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Presentation of the... 



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Battle Flags.. 



-OF THE 



Oneida County Regiments 



>TO THE- 



Oneida Historical Society, 

...UTICA, H. Y... 



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To MY COMRADES of the Grand Army of the Republic 
the following account of the presentation of the Battle 
Flags of the Oneida County Regiments, together with 
General N. M. Curtis' lecture on the Capture of Fort Fisher^ 
is respectfully dedicated. 

It is largely copied from the Utica Daily Newspapers — 
the Observer, the Herald and the Press. 



THOMAS R. PROCTOR, 

Post Reynolds, G. A. R. 



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23877 




I^lLINSON-WILLIAIMS IMEiMORIAL. 

Home cf the Battle Flags of the Oneida County Regiments, 



To the Oneida Historical Society: 

On the occasion of its assuming the custody of the old flags 
of the Oneida County Regiments. 

Guard well and ever watchful be, 
So every coming age may see, 
That in the cause of liberty, 

They were never trailed in dust. 
They gained the freedom for a race, 
They saved the nation from disgrace, 
With loving hands we proudly place 

Into thv charge this sacred trust. 

Oft midst the shriek of shot and shell. 
Oft on the field where patriots fell. 
With love that treason could not quell, 

These banners, brave men proudly bore. 
Flags of the Union strong and great, 
'Tis not surrender that we make, 
But midst the jewels of the State, 

In splendor shine forever more. 

R. D. S. Mortimer, Brookfield, Mass. 
1st Lieut., Co. C, 2d N. Y. H. A. 



[Prom Utica 31orning Herald, Dec. 14, 1897.] 

^ THE OLD fLAGS. ^ 



As an appropriate prelude to the ceremonies marking the 
presentation to the Oneida Historical Society of the old flags, 
carried in the war for the Union by Oneida County regiments, 
the Herald prints this morning letters from veterans to whom 
the tattered flags and their perpetual care are especially dear. 
One writer only expresses regret at the disposition made of these 
relics of patriotic association — Sergeant Hiram H. Gibbs, of 
Syracuse, Company H, 14th N. Y. Volunteers. And this 
dissident writes, we think, under misapprehension. Care of 
the flags, not their seclusion from sight of " the boys " who 
followed them, is the controlling thought in placing them in a 
safe place, in charge of an Association that will cherish and 
preserve them for what they are — trust bequests of men who are 
drawing near "the eternal camping ground " to which they can 
not take these sacred relics. The meeting there will be the 
happier for the knowledge that the old flags are daily an object 
lesson in patriotism, in the community where they were made, 
and to which they were returned with honor. 

These^letters from veterans will be welcome to all comradee, 
and to the general public. 



6 PRESENTATION OF THE FLAGS. 

Prom Captain H. R. Lahee. 

The flags of the Fourteenth never disgraced Oneida county or Lewis 
county on the battlefield. Take good care of the flags. We will soon be 
gone, but let the old flags remain forever. 



Captain Co. I, 14th N. Y. Vols. 



H. R. Lahee, Appleton, Wis. 



From Thomas J Timmons. 



The happiest days of my life, while a thoughtless, fearless, beardless 
young man, I spent following the flag of the Fourteenth Regiment. Some- 
times hungry, wet and cold, everything looked dark, yet under the leadership 
of our gallant Colonel McQuade we never failed to come to the front at the 
proper time and in our proper place. 

How proud he was of his flags, and how proud he was of his regiment. 
God bless his ashes. 

The Oneida Historical Society can well be proud of the old flags, as they 
were always at the front when called upon to be there. 

Thomas J. Timmons, Yonkers. 
Co, H, 14th N. Y. Vols. 



From Sergeant H. H. Gibbs. 



It is with deep regret and sorrow that I now learn that the flags of the 
Fourteeenth Regiment, N. Y. S. Vols, are to be turned over to the Oneida 
Historical Society. In ^May, 1861, I was a beardless boy of 17 years, and 
hearing of Fort Sumter falling into the hands of our southern brethren, my 
blood boiled within me, and one morning I left my country home and went to 
Syracuse to enlist. After waiting a little time on the streets, not really 
knowing where to go, some boys about my age came up to me and asked me 
if I wanted to enlist. I told them I did, and they asked me to enlist in their 
company, which I did. This proved to be Captain Thompson's company H of 
Syracuse, which went to make up the 14th N. Y., Colonel James McQuade's 
Utica regiment. We were mustered into the United States service in Albany, 
May 17, 1861, and from this time we began the soldier's life in earnest. The 
colors of a regiment are its pride. The old Fourteenth was always proud of 
its flags. The ladies of Utica gave us a beautiful silk flag and we were very 
anxious to return it, although tattered and torn, I can remember how we 
marched through the streets of Albany as an escort to the remains of Colonel 
Ellsworth, who had fallen at the hands of the traitor Jackson, for tearing 
down the rebel flag. We were proud of our flag, and we followed it to the 
capital of our nation, and as we stacked arms in the yard of the White 
House, and made our coffee I remember our now lamented President Lincola 



LETTERS. 7 

and his wife coming out on the veranda. How the boys cheered them. For two 
long years we followed the flags through many a hard fought battle, and never 
were they taken from us. Many precious lives went out in their defense and 
many a poor soldier was crippled for life. I remember when my eyes looked 
upon them for the first time in thirty years the tears came trickling down my 
face. I took those battle scarred folds in my hand, I pressed them t o my 
lips, and oh, the thoughts of other days came rushing through my memory. 
I thought of the brave men that stood by it in the dark days. There was 
that brave and gallant Colonel McQuade, who did not know fear, and after a 
few years of a citizen's life has gone to his reward. There was Lieutenant 
Colonel Skillin, who gave up his life at Gaines Mills. A braver man never 
honored the Union cause. There was that daring Major Davies, who did his 
duty nobly and is sleeping in a soldier's grave. There were many of the rank 
and file of the regiment that gave life and limb to honor the flag and preserve 
our nation. As these recollections come over me the old time patriotism 
burns anew in my breast. Now that the flags are to be turned over into 
other hands, the thought that perhaps ray eyes may never look upon them 
again brings sorrow to my heart. 1 hope to meet all of the boys on the 
eternal camping ground. 

Hiram H. Gibbs, Syracuse. 
Sergeant Co. H, 14th N. Y. Vols. 



From a Member op Company E. 



The old flag, the dear old flag, although tattered and torn and bullet 
pierced, we love it still, for it brings back memories of thirty-five and thirty- 
six years ago, of the camp and the dress parade, general inspections and long 
marches by day and by night, the hard contested battles and of comrades that 
are sleeping far away from home. 

Member Company E. 
14th N. Y. Vols. 



From Private John E. Evans. 



I have not seen the flags of the old Fourteenth in thirty-four years, but 
it seems to me that I see them still. [ can recollect well when they were 
presented to us. It was in the Park at New York city, by a delegation of 
citizens from Utica. Our flags were the first that were carried on the streets 
of Baltimore, after the assault made on the 6th Massachusetts. They were 
also saluted by "Old Abe" as we passed the White House door on our way 
to the camp on the White House grounds. On our advance up the Peninsula 
they were the first flags seen by the First Georgia Cavalry at Howard's Mills, 
where we had a skirmish, The day following, at Yorktown, they were the 
first Union flags seen by Magruder's army. They were the colors that came 



8 PRESENTATION OF THE FLAGS. 

to the assistance of the 2d Maine and the 44th N. Y. at Hanover Court House. 

They were the flags that came to the relief of the 1st Pennsylvania Bucktails 

at Beaver Dam Creek, when they were badly pressed by D. H. Hill's troops. 

At Gaines Mills our flags were on the left flank with Companies B and I, 

when they were carried in three distinct charges and protected by the boys of 

two companies. Co.v)nel McQuade and Major Davies were both with us at 

this point. At Malvern Hill three rebel regiments charged on us and tried to 

capture our flags, but we saved them and returned them to Utica at the end 

of two years. They were the first flags seen by Uticans that had been to 

the war. 

John E. Evans, Winfield, Kan. 

Private Co. B, 14th N. Y. 



Prom A. B. Cleveland. 



That once beautiful old glory, the pride of a thousand loyal hearted, I 
won't say boys in blue, nor blueeoats, but boys in gray. We did not hare 
blue coats when this flag was new to us. We wore the gray, not the gray of 
the south, but of this old Kmpire State. Note the contrast of one of 
New York State's most notable of fighting regiments, carrying as beautiful a 
stand of colors as it was the good fortune of any regiment to possess, made of 
the finest of silk, and presented to the regiment by the loyal ladies of this 
beautiful Mohawk city, to be carried by their brave boys, clad in suits that 
even Governor Morgan and Senator Conkling were ashamed of. Then, too, 
it now bears a contrast with many others in appearance, showing how man- 
fully it was kept before the eyes of the enemy, in the great struggle for the 
perpetuation of our great and glorious Union. 

1 can only say furthermore, that I having been only a musician, it was 
not my fortune to keep very close to the flag during battle, as I was. at other 
duties. I was always found to be one to rally around the dear old flag, when 
the drum was beating calling together the survivors of each battle the 
regiment was engaged in. And I loved to behold its beautiful blue field, the 
stars and stripes, though tattered and torn, as it emerged from the conflict. 
All hail to its glorious achievements, and may it long be preserved in the 
archives of the Oneida County Historical Association as a momento of the 
valor of its supporters and followers. 

Anson B. Cleveland, Utica. 
Musician, Co. I, 26th N. Y. Vols. 



Prom Lieutenant W. H. Sanford. 



The placing of the old flags of the Oneida County Regiments in the care 
of the Oneida County Historical Society is, I think, very appropriate. 

The dear old flags; what a flood of memory is brought to mind, when 
the dear old flag is mentioned. 



LETTERS. 9 

Our flag was presented to the regiment by the ladies of Utiea in the early 
days of 1861. It was a very handsome one. The regiment felt proud of their 
flag. 

1 can see it now as it waved on the many bloody battlefields of the regi- 
ment during its two years' service. I can see it gracefully waved in regulation 
salute as little Mac and our martyred president, the noble Abraham Lincoln, 
reviewed the army, soon after the battle of Antietam. 

After two years of faithful service we returned as a regiment, brought 
back the old flag unsullied, badly torn and shredded by shot and shell. 

After our discharge many of us re-entered the service, and served till the 
close of the war, but I venture to say there is nothing that will quicken the 
pulse and brighten the eye of the comrades of the 26th Regiment like the 
mention of that old flag. 

W. H. Sanford, Clinton, "N. Y, 
1st. Lieut. Co. P., 26th N. Y. Vols. 



From Colonel Rufus Daggett. 



The survivors of the 117th Regiment will place the flag presented by the 
ladies of Utica in the case provided for it by Comrade T. R. Proctor at the 
Historical Building. Thi?; flag was carried through ten engagements, and 
was under almost constant fire through two sieges, that of Fort Wagner at 
Charleston Harbor, S. C, and Petersburg, Va. Its silk is tattered and torn, 
the staff was twice broken by shot or shell. After the battle at Drury's Bluff 
an inspection of the flags was made. The silk of this one was found pierced 
in several places, and the staff broken. Color Sergeant William E Pease 
(now dead) was severely wounded while gallantly holding it to the front. 
Others of the color guards, whose names I do not now recall, were wounded. 
The 117th was very proud of its regimental flag and never once forgot the 
written injunction given it by the donors, a copy of which will be deposited 
■with the flag. On the return of the regiment this flag was in charge of 
Corporal E. S. Foskett, now a resident of this city. At the final muster out 
of the 117th by its action 1 became the proud possessor of it, and thirty-two 
years it has been in my family. Its further history can be read from the case 
in the Historical Building. 

Rufus Daggett, Utica. 
Col. 117th N. Y. Vols. 



From LiEUTENA;iT-CoLONEL Meyers. 



It is gratifying to know that a suitable place has been provided by the 
Historical Society for the care and preservation of the old flags and other 
relics of Oneida County organizations that participated in the civil war. A 
place, not only of safety, but where they will be exposed to view and, as 



10 PRESENTATIOI^ OP THE FLAGS, 

trust, inspire many American boys with a greater and better appreciation of 
that e:reat struggle. 

The veterans who so jealously watched over and defended these flags will 
derive a peculiar satisfaction in paying occasional visits to the weather beaten 
and tattered remnants of our colors, which, though so often enveloped in the 
smcke of battle, were never relinquished. Tne incidents in the history of che 
colors of the 117th N. Y. Vols, are indellibly recorded with bullets and shells 
on the silken folds and staff. Long after the last survivor has ceased to 
answer roll call these mute witnesses will continue to teach young American 
boys the awful fury and the perils of battle, which perhaps may lead them to 
discover in history how many of our comrades laid down their lives to save an 
untarnished flag and a country for them as a rich heritage. 

Lieut. Col. F. X. Myers. 
Brev. Col. U. S. A. 



Tribute of Company C. 



Five and thirty years ago the patriotic ladies of the city of Utica and the 
great county of Oneida presented to the Fourth Oneida Regiment a beautiful 
silken flag, fashioned by their fair hands. It was presented to that band of 
brave men, not only as an emblem and symbol of our national integrity and 
existence, but as a token of their love and measure of devotion to the great 
cause of American liberty, which is the crowning glory of American 
citizenship. 

It was borne by brave hearts, strong and willing hands through many a 
field of carnage and bloodshed, from your capital city to the burning sands 
of Morris Island, the stronghold of treason aud rebellion. Then for many a 
long and dreary day before the impregnable walls of Petersburg; then 
through snow and sleet down the storm ridden Atlantic coast, to be first 
among many of the glorious stars and stripes to be planted in triumph upon 
the fortress of Fort Fisher. 

Your course is marked by the bodies of many brave men strewn along 
your pathway, whose deeds and sacrifices will live in the history of our 
country long after your tattered silken folds shall have passed into dust and 
oblivion. 

Our love for you passeth the love of woman and all other earthly things, 
aye — even the love of God. 

The fires of patriotism kindled by our forefathers upon the altar of their 
country burn with undiminished brightness; that forms a bulwark of millions 
of American freemen that stand ready to respond to the bugle call for the 
defense of this emblem of the highest type of American freedom. 

Our enfeebled limbs and trembling hands admonish us that we can no 
longer protect and care for you with our old time strength and vigor, and we 
consign your sacred folds to the outstretched hands waiting to receive you, 
with implicit faith and trust in their guardianship. Good bye, old flag, 
good bye. 



LETTERS. 11 

Prom Color Sergeant Ernst. 

I am happy to think that the flags are to be given to the Oneida 
Historical Society to be kept safe for future generations. I perhaps have as 
much interest in their safe keeping as any one of my comrades in the regiment. 

In the engagement September 29, 1864, on Chapin's Farm, at Fort 
Gilmore, our State banner was abandoned and left in front of the fort. The 
corporal who was carrying it became wounded in the wrist, and then our line 
gave way and retreated, leaving the colors. 1 did not like the idea of 
retreating, but when I saw it was useless to resist under that horrible firing, I 
turned about, and in the same row in the cornfield, went back to the edge of 
the field, where 1 found General Foster. He asked me where I was going, 
and 1 told him to the rear, that I couldn't take the fort alone. He told me 
to stay there with him to help rally the colored troops which were ordered up. 
I got in their ranks and told them we would take the fort yet. A six footer at 
my right said it was always the way, when the white troops were repulsed, 
the colored trocips had to take th( brunt of it. Just about that time a shell from 
the right took part of his face off, and why I was not hit I never could 
conceive. The colored troops gave way before they reached the line from 
where our boys retreated. Just then I noticed a stand of colors, and went 
and got them. When I got to the rear I found our boys in the road. I went 
up to the color sergeant and asked him if he was short of colors and he said he 
was, so I turned them over. This is how the flag was abandoned and restored 
again to its proper place, and we as comrades of the 117th can rejoice that we 
didn't return to Oneida County minus one of our flags. 

John D. Ernst, Rome, N. Y. 
Color Sergeant 117th N. Y. Vols. 



From Sergeant J. B, Wicks. 



Every member of the 117th is deeply interested in anything pertaining to 
the old regimental flags. We are all present wherever they are. They came 
to us clean as we began our service in 1863. For three years in the fie d they 
were the rallying centre of the regiment. At Charleston, Chapin's Farm, 
Urury's Bluff and Fort Fisher they had their greater consecration, and in its 
uplifting every man of the regiment was born again. I recall their forward 
charge at Drury's Bluff and Chapin's Farna. At Fort Fisher they were in 
the dash for that shell ,torn parapet, and waved like a cheer in the shout of 
victory five hours later. 

From Fisher on to Raleigh they were borne in the march with Sherman 
and at the " muster out " we brought them back to ihe old home, tattered 
and torn, but new and blessed, in every wide rent and stain — in every faded 
stripe and star. The eolors of the old regiment embody three years of 
marching, fighting, enduring. They mean life, alive and alert, in holy 
things. 



12 PRESENTATION OP THE FLAGS. 

With their fellow flags they will make the Munson-Williams Memorial 
Building our county shrine of richest soldier hope and memory, 

J. B. Wicks, Paris, N. Y. 
Sergeant Co. G ] 17th N. Y. Vols. 



From Pebrt B. Miller. 



Early in the spring of 1864 I was detailed as one of the color guard and 
remained with the colors until the close of the war. The flags were badly 
shattered by the enemy in several engagements, but we never for a moment 
thought that we would surrender them. We had made a solemn promise to 
the donors of the State flag that we would return it to Oneida County without 
the slightest disgrace. I will not attempt to mention the happenings in the 
many engagements until at Port Fisher our flags, both National and State, 
were badly riddled. The National flagstaff was hit five times in this engage 
ment, twice broken by bullets. We held it up while Fred Boden tied it 
together. The State flag was once broken and tied by John B. Jones.' 

When the fort was surrendered Boden said: " Well, boys, we have got 
our flags but they are a little the worse for wear and only one of our members 
killed." 

We buried him the next day. He had five bullet holes through his 
breast. 

Pkrry B, Miller, Camden. 
Co. B, 117th N. Y. Vols. 



From Corporal Hknry H. Miller. 



The veterans of Oneida County have reason to be thankful to the Oneida 
Historical Society, and especially to Mr. Proctor, for the splendid arrange- 
ments they have made for preserving the flags of the Oneida County 
regiments. We all love and revere the old tattered flags that were with Ug 
in our marches by day and night, in camp and on battlefield. Many a 
comrade willingly sacrificed his life in defense of those flags and to preserve 
this beautiful land of ours. And now they are likely to be preserved to 
coming generations and in years to come, when the old veterans shall be held 
in reverent yet mystic memory, if these cases could be unsealed and flags 
unfurled, what thrilling tales they could tell to one who could interpret their 
language of daring and heroicdeeds, of Antietam, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, 
Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Chapin's Farm, Fort Fisher and others, for they 
were there. If not in this way, I am sure in some way they will be an 
inspiration to the patriotic devotion and love of country to those that shall 
come after us. 

Henry H. Miller, Clinton, N. Y. 
Corporal Co. K, 117th N. Y. Vols. 



LETTERS. 13 

From Corporal S. Nelson. 

I look back to the stirring times of '61 to '65, when at the age of nineteen 
I gave my services as a volunteer in Co. F. 117th N. Y. Vols., holding the 
office of corporal, and taking part with the regiment in building fortifications 
to make sure defense of our national capital during the winter of '63, and 
served until the close of the war. It was in the month of November, 1863, 
that the ladies of Utica presented the regiment with a beautiful silk banner, 
which was carried throughout by the regiment and was brought home in 
tatters at the close, having been pierced many times by bullets from the 
country's foes. I am amongst the least worthy of the boys who composed 
the regiment, but I tried to fulfill my part of duty as health and opportunity 
permitted. The war records show how well the regiment performed its part. 

S. Nelson, Oriskany. 
Corporal Co. F, 117th N. Y. Vols. 



From Sergeant Marriott. 



Nothing appears more appropriate than to speak of the regiment's weary 
march from Fort Fisher to Wilmington. It was on February 33d, (Washing- 
ton's birthday,) that the 117th, after days of weary tramping and experienc- 
ing all sorts of privations, entered that city. The old colors, soiled and 
tattered, were now unfurled and the boys tried to cheer. But at the sight of 
the blessed old flags, torn into shreds, our boys were overcome with sorrow, 
and there was not much incentive to cheer. The next moment our sorrow 
was turned into joy, for a lady, (God bless her,) in a nearby house flung to the 
breeze a beautiful American flag, the stars and stripes fairly dancing in the 
sunlight. A mighty cheer arose and the 117th rushed forth and rescued a 
number of northern soldiers who were being transported to a southern prison. 
Among those rescued were a few members of the 117th, but the poor fellows 
had so changed in appearance that they were hardly recognized by their old 
comrades. 

Who will say that the sight of the old flag on that day did not fill the 
117th with a new courage and inspiration that characterized the regiment 
during the years of that remarkable conflict ? 

Trusting that the presentation of our old flags to the Oneida Historical 
Society on Tuesday may imbue a new spirit of patriotism into the hearts of 
the youth of Oneida County. 

I am, yours very truly, 

John M. Marriott, Vernon. 
Serg. Co. E. 117th N. Y. Vols. 



From Colonel J. G. Grindlat. 



The standard of a regiment is a telegraph in the center of the battle 
to speak the changes of the day to the wings. "Defend the flag ? Rally on 



14 PRESENTATION OF THE FLAGS. 

the colors ! " is the first cry and first thought of a soldier. The standard 
contains the honor of the regiment, and the brave press around its bearer. 
The position of color bearer is one of equal honor and danger. The colors of 
the 146th, (three in number,) were never lost; the first and second were 
returned to the war department and the Governor of the State, respectively, 
^fter many battles, torn and tattered, but not dishonored, and the third given 
into the care and custody of the Oneida County Historical Society. They 
■were ever gallantly borne and bravely defended by the men of the regiment, 
defiantly shaken in the very jaws of death, and often triumphantly waved by 
them on fields of victory. They were borne in the following engagements: 
Fredericksburg, Ohancellorsville, Gettysburg, Williamsport, Bristoe Station, 
Rappahannock Station, Mine's Run, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Piricy Branch 
Church, Laurel Hill, Bayle's House, North Anna, Tolopntomy, Cold Harbor, 
BethesdaChureh, White Oak Swamp, Petersburg, Weldon Railroad, Poplar 
Spring Church, Hatcher's Run, (first and second,) Hicksford Raid, White 
Oak raid, Five Forks, Appomattox Court House. 

James G. Grindlay, Albany. 
Col. 146th N. Y. Vols. 



From Captain C. P. Mahan. 

I went out with the 146th Regiment and remained in the field until the 
close of the war. I was with the regiment almost continually, except for 
three or four months at division headquarters doing guard duty. I was one 
of the number that returned to Utica at the close of the war, and we had a 
grand reception. We gave the people a drill. I believe there was only 
eighty-one of us at that time. Our commanding officer wrote the name of 
each battle on our discharges. My company was Company G, the color com- 
pany. 1 have not said much about the old flags, but 1 can talk it over with 
the boys better than I can write. My company was in the following battles: 
Fredericksburg, Ohancellorsville, Gettysburg, Williamsport, Manassas Gap, 
Rappahannock Station, Bristow Station, Mine's Run, Wilderness, Laurel 
Hill, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Tolopotomy, Bethesda Church, Petersburg, 
Weldon Railroad, Chappel House, and about fifty skirmishes. 

C. P. Mahan, Clinton. 
Corp. Co. G, 146th N. Y. Vols. 



From C. M. Somers, Ass't Surgeon. 

There is no lack of old time inspiration, but lam paralyzed and helpless, 
and unable to collect my thoughts in an orderly way. 

I send my abiding love to the colors of the grand 146th N. Y., and con- 
sign;;my lasting interest to the keeping of the Oneida Historical Society. 

C. M. Somers, M. D., Deansboro. 
Assistant Surgeon, 146th N. Y. Vol, 



LETTERS. 15 



From Lieutenant A. P. Case, 



The 146th N. Y. was taken by Colonel Garrard of U. S. Array, to the 3d 
Brigade, 2d Division, 5th Corps, General Sykes, the other brigades being 
regulars. General Weed commanding the brigade was killed at Gettysburg, 
and succeeded by Colonel Garrard. Colonel Jenkins, who took the regiment, 
was killed at Wilderness, and succeeded by Colonel Grindlay. The 146th had 
in all 1,568 men; 7 officers and 163 men killed in battle, 525 wounded, 550 
discharged for wounds and disabilities, 327 mustered out. It was three times 
complimented in general orders for distinguished gallantry. Its monument 
on little round top, Gettysburg, stands by the side of General Warren's bronze 
statue, and with the sanction of New York State Gettysburg comrades bears 
the inscription. "Prom this point Major General Meade commanded the 
battle of July 3d." 

The flag tells its own story, and that of the brave men who carried it, by 
the list of twenty-two battles on its folds, as authorized by the war depart- 
ment. 

To the soldier in the field his flag means far more than it does to the 
peaceful citizen, who only sees it idly floating above public buildings, or as 
drapery at a festival. To him it stands for the strength and honor of his 
country, and the more it is torn by shells and bullet, the dearer it becomes. 

A. P. Case, Vernon. 
1st Lieut, and Q. xM., 146th N. Y. Vols. 



From A. H. Palmer. 



I deem it an honor, of which I am proud, to have a voice in the formal 
turning over of the distinguished banners of the dear old 146th Regiment. 
Belonging to Co. C, I was almost constantly under its folds for three years. 
It was the color company. I was for a time one of the color guard and was 
proud of the association with "old glory," an object so inspiriting and 
ennobling. 

But more than all else is it rendered sacred to me when I think of the 
precious lives lost in defending it on many bloody battlefields. More con- 
spicuous tlian others and deeply impressed on my heart, are the gallant 
officers, Jenkins, Curran and Freeleigh. Braver and truer men never led 
men to battle in any country. 

Many of our boys deserve more than a passing notice, I hope our boys 
living will do them justice, and I can not refrain from mentioning Private 
Henry Wood, son of James Wood of South street. Henry and I enlisted at 
the same time, and he was my tentmjite. The last time I saw him to recog- 
nize him was in the line of battle, which was just advancing on the enemy at 
Hatcher's Run, 1 think it was in the winter of 1864. I was at the time 
mounted orderly on Gen. Fred Winthrop's staff, and as we struck the enemy's 
line of battle the line of battle opened at the right of my old regiment to let 
the General and staff ride through. In passing I caught Henry's eye. He 
raised his musket, pointing it to the front, intimating to me that he would 



16 PRESENTATION OF THE FLAGS. 

give them his best. A moment later and the clash came. My dear tentmate 
was cut down with many others. On came the enemy with crushing force. 
Our lines gave way and were rallied again and again. But we were forced 
back a distance of about five miles, contesting the right of every foot. At 
last reinforcements came and we then retraced our footsteps, sweeping the 
enemy before us, until we regained all the ground lost, and the possession of 
our dead and wounded. Among them was my dear old tentmate. As we 
advanced he was waving his sash and cheering for victory, although exhausted 
from the loss of blood, and from which he never recovered. 

The writer of this was present at the presentation of the banner to the 
14Gth Regiment, if I remember right by the ladies of Oneida County. I was 
with this banner in camp, on the march and on the battlefield, and was one 
of the fragment of the regiment to return home with the colors. And, oh, 
what joy was ours as the colors flaunted proudly through the streets of Utica, 
escorted by our old and anxious friends on that beautiful July morning in 
1865, to know that they had been unfurled to the breeze of many a battlefield, 
and never disgraced. 

With pride and pleasure I voice my willingness to commit the keeping of 
the sacred treasure to the Oneida Historical Society. Regretting my inability 
to be present on the 14th, and thanking you for your generous interest in my 
old regiment, I am, with great respect, 

Yours trnly, 

A. H. Palmer, Omaha, Neb. 
Company C, 146th N. Y. Vols. 



From Color Sergeant Rogers. 



During the service of over four years the flags of the'3d'N. Y. H. A. 
were carried through eighteen battles and never fell into the hands of 
the enemy. At the battle of Deep Bottom, Va., when all of the 
color guards and the two color sergeants were either killed or wounded, a 
young boy by the name of Billy Wilson sprang forward and grasping one of 
the flags, carried it through every battle and skirmish up^to the time of the 
muster out of the regiment without receiving an injury. Our total loss on 
the color guard I am unable to state, but we lost seven sergeants while 
carrying the colors. 

Harvey Rogers, Seneca Falls. 
Color Sergeant, 1st Lieut. Co. K, 2d N. Y. H. A. 



From Joseph Porter. 



The history of the old flags of the Second N. Y. H. A. is the real history 
of the regiment from 1861 to 1865. A grand, reliable regiment in Hancock's 
Second Corps, Barlow's First Division. Enlisting under the call for the first 
300,000 men, as light artillery, the regimsnt was mustered into the United 



LETTERS. 17 

States service on Staten Island in the fall of 1861. From there it was sent to 
the fortifications on the south side of i he Potomac and remained there until 
August 25, 1862, when it was sent with the first Mass. H. A. to join Pope at 
Warrenton, Va. , and encountered the advance of Stonewall Jackson at Bull 
Run on the 27th. Here these t»vo regiments kept at bay the ii7,000 troops 
under Jackson from early dawn to 3 p. m. This was the result of missappre- 
hension on the part of the enemy, who supposed we were the vanguard of 
Fitz John Porter's Corps from the Peninsula. The regiment lost 150 in 
prisoners, and was at once relegated to the defense of Washington opposite 
Georgetown, where it remained until the middle of May, 1864, when it was 
ordered to join Grant at the Wilderness, and the career of the regiment Irom 
Spottsylvania to Appomattox was one of which every member may well be 
proud. It was in fifteen general engagements and never lost any of its colors. 
The Second N. Y. H. A. was a truly cosmopolitan regiment, embodying men 
from every part of the State, of every nationality and walk in life. It num- 
bered from first to last 5,000 men, of whom 500 died in the service. About 
one-half of the companies were from Central New York. Company E, the 
color company, was largely from Otsego and Oneida Counties, and commanded 
by Captains George Klinck and D. C Stoddard of Utica. The regiment had 
two colonels from Oneida County, Colonel Jeremiah Palmer, formerly of 
Oriskany, and Colonel 0. G. Hulser of Forestport. So it is most fittnig and 
appropriate that the old flags of the Second X. Y. H. A. be presented to the 
Oneida County Historical Society for future preservation. 

Joseph Porter, Rome. 
Co. E, Second N. Y. H. A. 



From Sergeant J. F. Whiting. 

The Second New Yorx Heavy Artillery was mustered into the United 
States service on Staten Island, October 15, 1861, and while there Governor 
Morgan's wife presented the regiment with a flag. Soon after we were seat 
to Washington and occupied forts near Alexandria, Va. Tue first time our 
flags were in service was at the battle of Second Bull Run, August 27. 1862. 
I volunteered February 17, 1864, and was assigned lo Co. C, and from that 
date was with the regiment and the flag until the close of the war. 

The dear old flag was carried into the following battles: Bull liun, 
August 27, 1862; Spottsylvania, May 12 to 19, 1864; Norih Anna liuii, 
May 22, 1864; Tolopotomy Creek, May 81, 1864; Cold Harbor, June 3 tu 10- 
1864; Petersburg, June 16 to 22, 1864; Strawberry Plaiu Jul,v 28, 1864; 
Deep Bottom, August 14 to 16, 1864; Reams Station, August 28, ia64; 
Hatcher's Run, December 9, 1864; Patrick Station, .March 25, 1b65; Five 
Forks, March 31, 1865; South Side Railroad, April 2, 1865; Amelia spnngs, 
April 6, 1865; Farmville, April 7, 1865; surrender of Lee, April y, 1865. 
Twenty or more times our flags were carried into battle. Their tattned and 
bullet riddled condition amply proves that they were carried by true and 
loyal men. When one was stiot down another took them up and prouuly 
carried them to victory. 



18 PRESENTATION OP THE FLAGS. 

They were the last flags to leave the scene of Lee's surrender at Appo- 
matox. Our regiment was ordered to convey the artillery and munitions of 
war to a place of safety, and if I mistake not they were the last flags to leave 
Washington for home. 

James P. "Whiting, Middleville, N. Y. 
First Sergeant, Co. C, 2d K Y. H. A. 



From Sergeant Williamson. 



In 1862 I had the honor of being color sergeant of the regiment. The 
names of the battles inscribed on one banner, by authority of the war depart- 
ment, illustrates the valor and loyalty of the old Second Artillery much 
better than anything [ can say: Bull Run, Spottsylvania, North Anna, 
Tolopotomy, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Strawberry Plain, Deep Bottom, 
Eeams Station, Hatchers Run, Patrick Station, Five Porks, Southside Rail- 
road, Amelia Springs, Farmville, Surrender of Lee. 

The Second Artillery was one of seven regiments comprising the First 
Brigade, First Division, Second Army Corps, commanded by such glorious 
chiefs as W. S. Hancock, Francis C. Barlow, A. A. Humphrey and N. A. 
Miles. The regiment was several times complimented by special orders for its 
gallantry and firmness in action The colors of the old Second Artillery 
were never disgraced by any cowardly action on the part of their defenders, 
nor were they even in the possession of a traitor. 

I am glad the dear old flags are now to be placed in the safe and 
honorable keeping of the Oneida Historical Society. 

John J. Williamson, Utica, N. Y. 
Brev. Capt. Co. B, Second H. A. 



From Sergeant Thomas T. Evans. 



It is many years since we marched under the flags. Many brave boys 
lost their lives carrying them while in action. Our Colonel, 0. P. Hulser, 
took charge of them for some time after we were mustered out of the service, 
and hatl them in his office at the old Clinton House, Bleecker Street. It was 
from here, through Captain Stoddard, Utica, that the flags were placed in care 
of Bacon Post, and at one of our annual reunions held some years ago J. S. 
Aitkens was appointed custodian of them. One year ago at our reunion, held 
at Rome, it was unanimously voted that the flags should be placed in charge 
of the Oneida Historical Society, and at our last reunion, held in Utica, in 
October last, a like motion was made and carried unanimously. We went to 
the Historical Building in a body to see the old flags, and every one spoke 
approvingly of the action taken. 

Thomas T. Evans, Utica. 
1st Serg. Co. D, Second N. Y. H. A. 



[Prom Utica Daily Press, Dee. 15, 1897.] 

l/ETERANS AT LUNCH, 



Mr. and Mrs. Thomas K. Proctor entertained a number of 
veterans at lunch at their home, 312 Genesee Street, at 1.30 p.m. 
yesterday. The reception was given in honor of Department 
Commander Shaw and Gen. Curtis. As the guests arrived they 
were introduced to Mr. and Mrs. Proctor, Col. Shaw and Gen. 
Curtis by Col. C. H. Ballon. Those present were G. W. Jones, 
Kome; E. F. Downer, Fritz Kohler, Utica; Rev. J. D. 
Ferguson, Perry B. Miller, Camden; J. W. Aldridge, George 
A. Reynolds, IJtica; W. Stuart Walcott, New York Mills; A. 
G. Stein, Frank Miller, J. Harry Kent, Frederick Reinhardt, 
Dr. M. Cook, Utica; E. A. Wheeler, Waterville; George R. 
Farley, Prospect; Col. F. X. Meyer, Capt. Thelwin Jones, 
Utica; Hon, Joseph Porter, W. J. Cramond, Rome; Isaac P. 
Bielby, Yorkville; W. L. Ames, Col. George T. Hollingworth, 
A. Ecker, Henry Barnard, Utica; F. D. Leete, Oneida; 
Charles M. Dagwell, Charles F. Cleveland, Hon. John Kohler, 
John S. Aitken, Utica; James M. Smith, Timothy Dasey, 
Little Falls; W. A. Witherbee, Rome; Henry N. Marchisi, E. 
H. Risley, W. J. Supple, John H. Jones, John B. Jones, Gen. • 
Rufus Daggett, Hon. John Buckley, Hon. Thomas Wheeler, 
Utica; Maj. D. B. Magill, New York Mills; James C. Bronson, 
Clinton; A. B. Snow, Leander W. Fiske, Boonville; B. F. 
Hinckley, Camden: Maj. James Miller, E. M. Clarke, David 
Jones, Lewis A. Jones, John H. Bailey, Jacob P. Yakey, Utica; 
Thomas Byrnes, Rome; Alfred Sears, John O'Brien, Wesley 



20 PRESENTATION OF THE FLAGS. 

Dimbleby, Jacob Irion, Louis Wanner, C. H, Searle, D. C. 
Hurd, Utica; Alonzo Kmg, Oriskany; Clinton Beckwith, 
Herkimer; A. J . Budlong, Frankfort; Enoch Jones, Eouse B. 
Maxfield, H. I. Johnson, E. A. Tallman, George S. Dana, 
Joseph Wicks, U.S. Hastings, Richard Richards, J. A. Omans, 
H. Y. Purcell, D. C. Stoddard, Edward Lee, T. W. Wright, 
H. H. Timmerman. 

The lunch was an elaborate one and was greatly enjoyed by 
the veterans. After lunch Col. Shaw moved that a vote of 
thanks be tendered Mr. and Mrs. Proctor for their generous 
hospitality. The motion was seconded by Gen. Curtis. Col. 
Shaw made a few complimentary remarks to the host and 
hostess, to which Mr. Proctor responded. The guests smoked 
and chatted until nearly three o'clock, when carriages were 
taken for the Munson- Williams Mem.orial. Those who had 
been guests at the luncheon could be easily recognized among 
the assemblage at the flag presentation, for each one had a small 
drum made of card board tied in his button hole. The ice 
cream was served in the drums, which were kept as souvenirs of 
the very pleasant feature of a memorable occasion. 

The ladies who assisted with Mrs. Proctor were Mrs. W. 
Stuart Walcott, Mrs. A. M. Collier, Mrs. Cornelia Bacon 
Crittenden, Mrs. James Scott Brown, Mrs. James S. Sherman, 
Mrs. G. Alder Blumer, Miss A. D. Proctor, Miss L. R. Proctor, 
Miss Gridley, Miss Sarah B. Thomas. 

At the lunch very many good things^were said, and it was 
' nearly 3 o'clock before the veterans took carriages for the 
Memorial. 



« 

[Prom Utica Ilorning Herald, Dec. 15, 1897.] 



PRESENTATION OF THE ELAGS, 



^^^^ 

The battle flags of the Oueida County Regiments in the late 
civil war were presented to the Oneida Historical Society yester- 
day afternoon at the Munson-Williams Memorial, with 
appropriate ceremonies and eloquent addresses. Although the 
day was stormy and rainy there was a large attendance of 
veterans from all parts of the county, and every post in the 
county was represented. Some of the ladies who presented the 
flags originally were also present, as were many members of the 
Historical Society. The large hall was crowded to overflowing 
and all standing room was occupied. Two large American flags 
were displayed over the the front entrance, and at the left was 
the large picture of Fort Stanwix painted by artist Hugunine 
of Eome. 

As they stepped upon the stage, A'ice President T. R. Proctor, 
Gen. N. M. Curtis and Col. A. D. Shaw were heartily 
applauded . 

The exercises began by the singing of the " Star Spangled 
Banner," by Elliott Stewart, the large company joining in the 
chorus as also did the other members of the quartette, N. H. 
West, A. W. Jones and G. W. Miller. 

Vice President Proctor, who is also a Grand Army comrade, 
presided very acceptably. 

Cipi. /r • B. Snow gave the various bugle calls, and was 
heartily applauded. 



22 PRESENTATION OF THE FLAGS. 

Tl?e 14tl? Regii9?ei?t. 



t 



The presentation of the battle flags then took place. First 
in order was the Fourteenth Eegiment, Col. McQuade's which 
was represented by Capt. James Miller, Lewis A. Jones and 
Color Bearers John O'Brien and Wesley Dimbleby. The flags 
were received by Department Commander Shaw. In presenting 
the flags, L. A. Jones, Secretary of the lith Regiment Veteran 
Association, said: 

President Proctor of the Oneida Historical Society: In 
behalf of the Fourteenth Eegiment, New York State Volunteer 
Veteran Association, I place in your charge, for safe keeping, 
these two flags, the property of the Association. ■ 

The first is one of the United States flags of the Fourteenth 
New York Infantry, and it was presented to the regiment by 
the ladies of Utica, May 24, 1861, at Albany. 

The other is the New York State banner presented by Sons 
of Oneida residing in New York and Brooklyn to the Oneida 
Volunteers, Fourteenth Regiment, N. Y. S. V., on Washington 
Parade Ground in New York, June 19, 1801; the preaentation 
speech being made by Hon. Charles Tracy, a former Utican. 

The remaining flag of the regiment was deposited in the 
State Capitol at Albany, on the return of the Fourteenth from 
the war, and bears this inscription : 

"Colors of the Fourteenth Regiment, N. Y. S. V.; National 
flag, bunting; much worn; staff gone. Presented to the 
regiment on its departure for the field by Gov. Morgan on 
behalf of the State of New York, and returned to Gov. Seymour, 
soiled and tattered, but not dishonored." Then followed the 
statement "that the regiment was organized in Utica, Rome, 
Boonville, Batavia, Lowville, Syracuse and Hudson," with 
the date when it joined the Army of the Potomac, June 20 



THE rOURTEENTH N. T. V. 23 

1861, and the names of the battles in which it was engaged, 
closing with these words: "It has the proud record that it 
never had its pickets driven in and never turned its back to the 
enemy in battle." 

This inscription applies with equal force to the two flags here 
to-day. These colors were carried in every engagement in 
which the Fourteenth Eegiment participated, beginning with 
the thirty days' siege of Yorktown, closely followed by the 
battles of Xew Bridge and Hauover Court House and one month 
later by that continuous engagement called the Seven Days' 
Battle commencing at Mechanicsville, June 26, and followed 
day by day by Gaines Mills, Savage Station, White Oak Swamp 
and closing with the great victory at Malvern Hill. In this 
seven days' battle out of less than 600 engaged the regiment 
lost fifty-four men killed and over two hundred wounded in 
defense of these flags and of all that these flags represented. 

On the return from the Peninsula they were carried to the 
vicinity of Thoroughfare Gap in the second Bull Run campaign 
and back to the old camping ground at Miner's Hill, from thence 
through Washington, over South Mountain and the Antietam 
battle field to Shepardstown and Charlestown, W. Va., where 
the regiment had an engagement with Lee's rear guard. 
Following Lee in his retreat from Maryland the colors were 
carried through Harper's Ferry, up the Shenandoah Valley and 
through the Blue Ridge to Warrenton and from thence to Fal- 
mouth, opposite Fredericksburg. On December 13, 1862, these 
flags were carried in desperattj charges against the rebel position 
behind the stone wall on Marye's Heights, in the battle of 
Fredericksburg, with a loss to the regiment of six killed and 
over 100 wounded. In May, 1863, only a few days before the 
expiration of its term of service, the regiment carried these 
colors for the last time against the enemy in the three days' 
battle of Chancellorsville, losing one hundred in wounded. 

Returning to New York State the regiment was mustered out 



24 PRESENT ATIOJS^ OF THE FLAGS. 

of service May 24, 1863, and the flags were placed in the armorj 
of the Utica Citizens' Corps, where they remained until the 
incorporation of the Fourteenth Eegiment Veteran Association, 
since wliich time they have been in the care of Wesley 
Dimbleby, one of the trustees of the Association. When the 
survivors of the Fourteenth Regiment gaze upon these battle 
smoked and bullet torn colors scenes of the Virginia fighting 
days come back to us. Memories of camp life, of long and 
wearisome marches, of army songs and army singers, of army 
drill and army discipline, of picket guard, of siege and skirmish 
and battle, of the wounded and dying, of the dear comrades 
sleeping their last sleep in Virginia. 

To every surviving member of the Fourteenth Regiment these 
flags are the most precious relics of the war. In defence of 
these colors the members of the regiment knew by personal 
experience the meaning of hard fighting, of privation, of 
constant association with danger and death. 

Notwithstanding that our old flags are so precious to us we 
respond willingly and with grateful hearts to the kind invitation 
of the Oneida Historical Society to place our colors in this 
beautiful building in the case so graciously provided by you, 
Mr. President, and thank you for the privilege of visiting this 
place on each recurring 17th day of May, to salute our dear old 
flags. We hope that they will remain here for many, many 
years, an object lesson in patriotism. 



THE TWENTY-SIXTH N. Y, V, 25 

Tl?e 26t:l? Regii9?ei?l:. 



The flags of the Twenty-Sixth Eegiment were carried by 
Charles F. Cleveland and Joseph Keene. In presenting them 
Maj. Ezra F. Wetmore said: 

Mr. President and Members of the Historical Society: It is a 
commendable desire to obtain data for history. As I was but a 
nnit of the 26th Eegiment organization, I am nnable to give 
names of persons who were donors. This flag was presented to 
the regiment by Judge Smith of Oneida County, on behalf of 
the ladies of Utica, on the 27th day of May, 1861, at Elmira. 
This flag was carried on all the marches and through the battles 
in which the regiment was engaged which are the following: 
Cedar Mountain, August 6, 1862; Rappahannock Station, 
August 20, 21, 22; Thoroughfare Gap, August 27; Groveton 
or Second Bull Eun, August 30; Chantilly, September 1; 
South Mountain, September ll; Antietam, September 17: 
Fredericksburg, December 13. Chancellorsville, May 23, 24, 
1863. In the several battles 342 men fell beneath its folds. 
Three men received medals of honor for gallantry and meritorious- 
services, viz.: Thomas Keene, Martin Shriber and Charles 
Cleveland. After the regiment was disbanded this flag was 
taken care of by Judge Bacon for several years. He placed it 
in charge of Post Bacon, in whose care it has remained until the 
present time. We cheerfully surrender this treasured relic to 
your care, knowing you have the proper receptacle to preserve 
it; and may the same spirit which prompted the members of the 
regiment to deeds of patriotism and daring, inspire every 
citizen of the United States until time shall cease to be. 

Major Wetmore comminded the 26th Eegiment at South 
Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. 



26 PRESENTATION OF THE FLAGS. 

Tl?e 97tl? Regii9?ei?l: 



Capt. Archibald B. Snow of the 97th Regiment, said — 

Mr. President, Officers and Members of the Oneida Historical 
Society: On behalf of the Veteran Association of the 97th 
Eegiment, I regret to say that we tire compelled to appear before 
jou empty handed to-day. Our flags are in the capitol building 
at Albany. We petitioned the Governor, and almost up to the last 
moment hoped to present them to your honorable society on this 
memorable occasion; but we are informed that once deposited at 
Albany they are looked upon as State property, and can not be 
secured except by legislation. Legislation will be invoked and 
no effort will be spared to secure our colors, to the end that they 
may be deposited here in this building, than which they can 
have no fitter final resting place. The State flag known as the 
•Conkling flag, a blue silk field upon which the State arms were 
embroidered by the patriotic hands of Mrs. Roscoe Conkling, 
presented to Col. Charles Wheelock by the great senator himself, 
and the stars and stripes, our battle flag, presented to the regi- 
ment in 18G1 at its place of rendezvous, by the patriotic ladies 
of the village of Boonville, can no more properly be con- 
sidered State property, than the historic sword presented to Col. 
Wheelock by the ladies of Boonville, and nowtlie most treasured 
heirloom in possession of his family. 

To this city, the home and final resting place of the great 
senator and, without doubt, that also of his honored wife and 
widow, should the Conkling flag be brought and to this city 
should come also the battle flag of the Third Oneida, unfurled 
upon thirty battle fields, riddled and shot torn, under whose 
folds, with weapons in their hands and with faces to the foe, 
one hundred and eighty-one officers and men, died in their 
tracks. Here, at the central point in the territory, from which 



THE ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH N. Y. V. 27 

their fathers rallied in the time of their country's needs, future 
generations should have safely deposited and in sight those 
treasured relics as object lessons from age to age, teaching 
patriotism, and reminding them of what their fathers did and 
who their fathers were. 

I said we came empty handed, but not entirely so. Since I 
arrived in this city I have the honor to meet the president of the 
organization by which our flag was made, Mrs. L. C. Childs, 
who, I am happy to say, is with us to-day. 1 present a history 
of the 97 til regiment, in which is a picture of the battle flag of 
the regiment, on which are inscribed the names of 30 battles in 
which we participated. This will be kept in the case until we 
can substitute for it the flag itself. I have also another copy of 
the book for your library. 



Tl?e 117tl? Regii9?ei?t 



The members of the 117th were asked to rise and as they did 
so, Gen Curtis also arose and said: "I believe I am an honorary 
member." [Applause.] Gen. Rufus Daggett presented the 
flag, saying: 

Mr. President and Comrade: In 1862 this flag was prepared 
by the ladies of Utioa and sent to the 117th New York Volun- 
teers (then at the front), with the following letter and charge; 

"To the Officers and men of the 117th New York Volunteers: 

"The ladies of Utica, desirous of evincing their interest in the great 
work you have undertaken and their faith in you, the sons of Oneida, have 
prepared this banner with its motto chosen from your national anthem, which 
they hope will be satisfactory to you all, reminding you at once of the high 
responsibility which we devolve upon you, the chosen defenders of our liberty 
and happiness of the dear ones you have left behind, whose honor is insepara- 
bly bound up with your own, and above all, of your duty towards and your 



-o PRESENTATION OF THE FLAGS. 

dependence on that higher power without whose aiding hand non^ can pros- 
per. 

"This is no time for words and we have but few to give you. Go forward 
with a will, bearing biavely on the glorious banner which is the ensign of all 
we hold most dear, Come back when your work is done, and well done, 
bringing this same emblem, torn and defaced it may be, but bearing only 
honorable marks which shall add a glow of thankfulness and pride to the 
heart of every maiden, wife and mother whose hopes rest so fondly upon each 
of you; or, come not back to us again forever. Sorrow we can bear; disgrace, 
never. But this is a word which, in connection with you of the One Hundred 
and Seventeenth, we need not use. Oneida has not known its meaning and 
W9 feel assured that it is not at your hands she will be taught it. 

"Take therefore, our banner and with it receive our prayers for your 
safety, your happiness, your glory and above all, for the safety of the land 
which you go forth to defend and redeem. In behalf of the ladies, 
" Respectfully yours, 

"(Signed.) L. C. Graham. 

"Utica, October, 1862. 

How faithfully and well these injunetious were carried out 
by the regiment, the list of engagments, the killed, the wounded 
and missing in battle, the deaths from disease during its three 
years of service, will tell you, and surely proves it was true to 
to the trust, and after thirty-two years the survivors of the 
regiment bring it to you, tattered, torn and bullet-riven, with 
a list of the engagemerts in which it was carried. 

Hoping that as its history shall be read and better known, it 
may inspire in the young men and women a greater love for 
their country and flag. Mr, President we now surrender to 
you for safer keeping this dear old flag. [Applause.] 

The following is a list of the engagements in which the 117th 
Eegiment New York State Volunteers participated: Siege of 
Suffolk, Va., 1863; Hanover Junction, Va., July, 1863; Siege 
of Fort Wagner, 1863 and 1864; Swift's Creek, Va., 1864; 
Drury's Bluff, Va., May, 1864; Cold Harbor, Va., June, 1864; 
Petersburg Heights, Va., June 15, 1864; Siege of Petersburg, 
seventy-one days in the trenches; Cemetery Hill, A^a., July 30, 
1864; Chapin's Farm, Va., September 29, 1864; Darbytown 
Eoad, Va., October 27, 1864; Fort Fisher, N. C, January 15, 
1865; Fort Anderson, N. C, 1865. 



THE ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH N. Y. V. 29 

Comrade G. B. Fairhead read the following verses written by 
by liim in honor of the 117th Eegiment, entitled ''The Old 
Banner of the Fourth Oneida." 

Ye tattered shreds of faded silk, 

Patches worn dim in war's wild fray, 
All marred and torn by shot and shell. 

Say ! Are ye worth a thought to-day ? 

A thought? Ah, yes! And floods of tears; 

Then a rare shout both loud and long, 
Inwove with patriots' truest troth, 

For every shred deserves a song. 

When first your beauty met ttie yiew 

Of Fouth Oneida's stalwart boys, 
Drawn up in compact, hollow square, 

'Twas then ye quickened hero vows. 

Love's benisons ye bore to us 

From women of this city fair, 
Whose loyal hearts beat quick and warm, 

Entreating us to do and dare. 

They said " Our prayers will follow this 

That it be borne with high endeavor. 
Then homeward come, if with ' well done,' 

' Or come not back forever.' " 

Then with our triple flags we faced 

The brave man's march, the tod, the fight; 

The Color Guard, valiant and true. 
The centre of our hero might. 

When war clouds broke so hot and fierce, 

Those banners met with rent and gash ; 
There noble men beneath them fell, 

And many felt the battle's crash. 

Nor faltered they, till victory came. 

No loss of star, no spot on stripe, 
But doubly dear for val'rous men, 

Were yielded for the Nation's life. 

Dear Tatters, wet with tears and blood. 

We yield you to the city's care, 
Demanding they devoutly keep 
What cost our ranks such value rare. 

George B. Fairhead. 
Co. D, 117th N. Y. Vols. 



30 PRBSENTATEON OF THE FLAGS. 



Tl?e 146tl? Kegii'^eiVt 



The flag of the 146th Eegiment was presented by William 
Campbell, who said: 

In behalf of the 146th Eegiment, New York State Volunteers, 
whose cause I have the honor to represent, I surrender to your 
care and keeping this old regimental flag. You will find it 
sadly tattered and worn, a mere remnant of its former self. 
Like ourselves, it is chiefly valuable, not for what it is, but for 
it represents. We commenced following it before the battle of 
Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862, and we did not cease to 
follow it until after Appomattox 1865. We commenced to 
follow it when young, strong and brave, for we were one of the 
300 fighting regiments, with something like 1,000 men. 
Whether we followed it to victory or defeat we never allowed it 
to trail in the dust or know a surrender. It was and is a 
symbol to our devotion to the cause of freedom and humanity. 
We surrender it to you to-day because we, like it, are only a 
remnant, and while we are passing beyond the ability to care for 
it or protect it, it will remain as a reminder of our sacrifice and 
loyalty. Cherish it heartily. Care for it tenderly, that it may 
remain among you to remind the young of coming generations 
of deeds done and accomplished by the old Garrard Tigers. 

Concerning this flag Gen. James G. Grindley writes: **The 
standard of a regiment is a telegraph in the center of the battle 
to speak the changes of the day to the winds. 'Defend the 
flag ! rally on the colors ! ' is the first cry and first thought of a 
soldier. The standard contains the honor of the regiment, and 
the brave press around its bearer. The position of color bearer 
is one of equal honor and danger. The colors of the 146tli 
(three in number) were never lost; the first and second were 
returned to the War Department and the Governor of the State, 



THE ONE HUNDRED FORTY-SIXTH N. Y. V. 31 

respectively, after many battles, torn and tattered, but not dis- 
honored, and the third given into the care and custody of the 
Oneida Historical Society. They were gallantly borne and 
bravely defended by the men of the regiment, defiantly shaken 
in the very jaws of death, and often triumphantly waved by 
them on fields of victory. They were borne in the following 
engagements: Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, 
Williamsport, Bristoe Station, Kappahannock Station, Mine 
Run, Wilderness, Spottsylvauia, Piricy Branch Church, Laurel 
Hill, Gayle's House, North Anna, Tolopotomy, Cold Harbor, 
Bethesda Church, White Oak Swamp, Petersburg, Weldon Rail- 
road, Poplar Spring Church, Hatcher's Run, (first and second,) 
Hicksford Raid, White Oak Raid, Five Forks, Appomattox 
Court House." 

The following order, copied from the official order book of the 
regiment, speaks for itself, and you may deem it worthy of 
incorporating in your account of the exercises on the lith inst. 

(Order No. 15.) 
Headquarters 146th N. Y. Vols., 

Near Three Mile Station, Va., 

November 1, 1863. 
The regiment has just received with proper solemnities a new stand of 
colors, and it has now to transmit to the Governor of the State of New York, 
the old flag whose tattered folds will speak more eloquently than words of 
the work which the sons of New York are performing in behalf of the 
country. It will recall the hard fought fields of Frederickburg, Chancellors- 
ville and Gettysburg. To some it may bring a tear of remembrance for the 
biave dead who have fallen in its defence. It will never cause a cheek to 
blush with shame. Fight under the new flag as gallantly as you have done 
under the old, and you may hope ere another year passes to carry it back to 
your homes, to receive the thanks of a grateful country. 

By order of Col. David T. Jenkins. 
Wm. Wright, Lieut, and Actg. Adjt., 146th N. Y. Vols. 

This is the flag under which the heroic Jenkins yielded up his 
life for national immortality, while bravely leading his regiment 
in the charge at the terrible Battle of the Wilderness, and which 
was saved from capture that day by J. Albert Jennison. 



32 PRESENTATIOX OF THE FLAGS. 

Tl?e 2d New York KeaVdi Al^tillerdi 



The flags of the Second New York Heavy Artillery, including 
guidons, were then presented. The address was made by Capt. 
D. C. Stoddard, who said: 

Mr. President and Members of the Oneida Historical Society: 
The surviving comrades of the Second New York Heavy 
Artillery Volunteers, through its regimental organization, here 
offers to your honorable Society the flags of that regiment, 
■earnestly requesting you to accept the custody and preservation 
of them as a perpetual trust. You, on your part, undertaking 
always to keep them in some suitable and public place in this 
beautiful building, that shall be open and accessible to them 
and the public at all seasonable times, to be regulated by 
yourselves. 

They are emblematic in their meaning. The stars and stripes 
represent the United States and its authority over all who serve 
under them. The other flag by its emblem, denotes the State 
enrolling the regiment as volunteers, and its color and cross 
cannon show the branch of service in which it served. 

In service they are borne and guarded by choice men from the 
ranks, carefully selected for this post of honor, for their well 
known strength, endurance and bravery, and though a post of 
hardship and danger to be one of the color guard is eagerly 
sought for and greatly prized when obtained. 

In line of battle the flags are in the center of the regiment to 
guide and control the two wings while maneuvering and are also 
the rallying point in case of confusion or disaster. 

Their loss from any cause in battle is considered a disgrace 
upon every member of the regiment, and to throw them away or 
abandon them in danger is not only a most disgraceful military 
act, but severely punished. 



THE SECOND N. T. H. A, 33 

Every officer and enlisted man loves, honors and is proud of 
the colors under which he serves and never ceases to do so as 
long as life lasts. To see them revives many a thought and 
feeling of the time when they were his especial care, some may 
be pleasant and more sad, but yet he likes to bring them to 
mind, shed a tear for a fellow comrade and '' fight over again 
the battles " of his youth. And when he is gone, that they will 
still remain to remind those that come after him that it is also 
their duty to defend to the uttermost their country m every 
peril to the extent of their lives and fortune, and to hand it 
down to their children with not a star less upon the National 
flag. 

The Second JSTew York Heavy Artillery Volunteers was not 
strictly an Oneida County Kegiment, and yet we believe that 
more men served in it from this county and vicinity than any 
regiment which was organized within it and called by its name. 
In the summer of 1861 an artillery regiment was attempted 
to be organized, with its camp upon Staten Island, but it did 
not prosper, nor had any company the minimum number of 
men sufficient to be mustered as a company. While in this con- 
dition the Governor authorized Jeremiah Palmer, then living at 
Oriskany, who had been connected with the uniformed militia 
and favorably known here and in this vicinity, to fill up and 
organize a full artillery regiment from this nucleus of men on 
Staten Islana. 

He entered upon his task with energy and three companies 
were recruited from this city, one from Jefferson County and 
two from Frankfort, Herkimer County, and the other six 
companies were filled up and mustered into the service. Early 
in November, 1861, the regiment was in forts doing garrison 
duty in the "Defenses of Washington South of the Potomac.'^ 

At this time the field officers of the regiment were : Colonel; 
Jeremiah Palmer; Lieutenant Colonel, Henry P. Roach; Majors, 



34 PRESENTATION OF THE FLAGS. 

Alexander Douel and William A. McKay; Adjutant, Ezra D. 
Corwin; Quartermaster, George N. Mead. 

The Captains of original companies were: Company A, 
Thomas Maguire; Company B, J. Howard Kitching; Company 
C, GeorgegHogg; Company D, John D. Jones; Company E, 
George Klinck; Company F, James Houseman; Company G, 
Thomas J. Clark; Company H, Charles L. Smith; Company I, 
Abner C. Griffin; Company K, Plinley L. Joslin; Company L, 
James L. Hulser; Company M, Emiel P. Halstead. 

The regiment had as Colonels besides the above Gustave 
Wagner, Milton Cogswell and J. V. G. Whistler, both of the 
Regular Army. 

If poss'ble, and time permitted, we would gladly mention 
every officer and enlisted man who at any time belonged to this 
regiment and take great pleasure in detailing the many acts of 
bravery which each performed, but it is impossible, as more 
than 4,000 names were borne upon its rolls. 

With what "pleasure and satisfaction we could read to you 
that long, fatal roll of honor of comrades who died or were 
killed ^in battle, or to give the names of those fifty brave com- 
rades who died in rebel prisons and read the names of the 
*' missing" who sleep peacefully in graves unknown, but alas 
this we cannot do. All these names are worthy to be recorded 
in letters of gold upon sacred tablets as those who gave their lives 
in maintaining equal rights and justice for their fellow-men. 

In the regimental casualties in the volunteer regiments for 
the whole war this regiment stands in the third grade — all 
suffered in eleven months of service in the field. 

The first experience of war came to the regiment when alone 
and upon the march to join Gen. Pope a few days before the 
second Bull Run Battle was fought, just as the regiment 
desired to pass through Manassa? Junction. Stonewall Jackson 
with his corps blockaded the way and opened upon it with his 
artillery, as well as sending his cavalry upon our flanks and rear. 



THE SECOND JST. T. H, A. 85 

"which was resisted for little time, when it was believed best to 
get out of Jackson's way by the shortest route and quickest 
time, and which we did by a loss of 100 wounded and prisoners. 
This we always defended upon the ground that if we could 
not whip Jackson he would defeat us — and that ** discretion 
■was the|better part of valor," and that 

" He who fights and runs away, 
May live to fight another day." 

And we proved this to be true. 

After this we were returned to the forts and to garrison duty. 
Early in 1863 Col. J. N. G. Whistler, a graduate of West 
Point, was made Colonel, and every company was filled to 
overflowing with recruits,^making it 2,000 strong. The Colonel 
instituted the strictest discipline, maintained company and 
battalion drills, organized schools of instruction for officers and 
men, and before the spring of 1864 no better disciplined and 
drilled volunteer regiment was in service. 

Early in May 1864, the regiment was ordered to join the 
Army of the Potomac as infantry with other heavy artillery 
regiment? forming a division under the command of Gen. K. 0. 
Tyler, and joined it at Spottsylvania. Within two or three 
days this division was attacked by Ewell's corps, and a sharp 
action ensued, lasting four or five hours, when the confederates 
were|repulsed, the division losing 3,500 to 3,0C0 killed, wounded 
and missing; this regiment losing 250. The "Heavies" were 
complimented by an order from army headquarters for good 
■conduct in their first fight. 

Immediately thereafter the regiment was assigned for service 
to the First Brigade, Col. Nelson A. Miles commanding, (now 
Commander-in-Chief IT. S. Army) First Division, Gen. Francis 
C. Barlow commanding, Second Corps, Majoi; Gen. Winfield 
Scott Hancock commanding, where it did duty until its muster 
out of service in September, 1865. 



36 PRESENTATION OP THE FLAGS. 

Its history during this time is interwoven with that of the 
gallant Second Corps; wherever that Corps went, it went also, 
and in danger and battle performed its whole duty, meriting 
and receiving the commendation of its commanding officers and 
the respect of those serving immediately with them. 

All along that fatal road, that continuous fighting ground of 
those great and brave armies, from the fatal Spottsylvania to the 
victorious Appomatox Court House, are the graves of its brave 
dead; while many times more of its brave men bear ugly scars 
of cruel wounds received by them in these fatal conflicts. This 
could not be otherwise; our foes were of the same blood, as 
brave and steadfast in battle as ourselves, and were only con- 
quered after both men and means were exhausted wherewith to 
longer continue the struggle. 

Then let us ever respect those foes, which withstood our 
armies so valiantly, so long and so bravely; and may this 
country ever keep united in national fraternity, unity and 
devotion to its flag. 

In conclusion, we hope and trust that the services of the 
Second New York Heavy Artillery Volunteers in aiding to 
subdue those organized armies of the great rebellion, will appear 
to you worthy to have its colors placed in the archives of your 
society, where for all time they may be kept and preserved in 
remembrance of the brave men who in danger guarded and pro- 
tected them until this day. 



Tl?iM New York bigl?t: ArMllei'^di 



Lieutenant C. F. King, Rome, of the Third New York Light 
Artillery, said the regiment did not have its flag, but it had a 
guidon which it would present as soon as suitable action was 
taken by the Regimental Association. 



GEN, MC QUADE S FLAGS. 

Gei?. /\GQdade'S Flags 



In presenting the General McQuade flags and the flag made 
hj the danghters of Hon. Alrick Hubbell, Lewis A. Jones was 
accompanied by Gen. McQuade's grandsons as color bearers. 
He said : 

Mr. President: I am requested by Mrs. James Scott Brown 
the daughter of Gen. James McQuade, to present to the Oneida 
Historical Society, three flags. The first is Gen. McQuade's 
Headquarters Flag of the 2d Brigade, 1st Division, 5th Army 
Corps, and the color bearers for this occasion are two grand- 
sons of Gen. McQuade, Masters James McQuade Brown and 
James McQuade. The second is the Headquarters Flag of the 
5th Army Corps, and the color bearer is Samuel Lane McQuade, 
also a grandson of General McQaade. The third is a Palmetto 
Flag captured at the battle of Malve.n Hill by John O'Brien 
and Peter Pickler of the 14th Eegiment, and by them turned 
over to Gen McQuade who was an eye-witness of the affair. The 
color bearer for this flag is Charles S. Brown, 2d, a fourth 
grandson of the General. 

Chaplain Ferguson proposed three cheers for tlie flags and 
the boys and they were given with a will. 



A Goi?Federate Flag 



John B. Jones of the 115th, said: At the request of Gen. 
Daggett I present for him an emblem of the confederacy, a 
confederate signal flag, taken from the hands of a confederate 
at the greatest battle of the time. Fort Fisher. [Applause.] 
Stained with the blood of some confederates. He has requested 
me to present it to you, and it bears an appropriate inscription. 
£ Applause .] 



i President Proctor's Response, 

President Proctor then, on behalf of the Oneida Historical 
Society, said: 

Men and Women, Comrades : With gratitude, with reverence 
and with a full appreciation of its responsibilities the Oneida 
Historical Society accepts the care and custody of these 
precious treasures. 

This Society wishes to make public acknowledgement to the 
patriotic men and women who have so unselfishly placed these 
flags in its keeping. This gracious and generous act will enable 
it to extend its usefulness in a great degree. 

It is with especial pleasure that the Society welcomes these 
noble women who, with others of blessed memory, furnished 
and presented some of these flags to Oneida County Regiments 
more than a third of a century ago. 

These flags will be placed in yonder hall, where they will be 
beyond the touch, but in sight of all who may wish to see them; 
and there they will stand as monuments to McQuade and Davies^ 
to Lowery and Bagg, to Hunt and Curran, to Bacon and 
Skilling, to Pease and Jenkins, to Reynolds and Bright, and to- 
all the other brave and noble men who risked their lives to save 
their country — and there they will remain until they shall have 
crumbled into dust. 

Here, year after year so long as any of them shall remain,, 
will come these veterans and their associates to salute their 
colors and to revive their friendships, and they will go out from 
here with renewed vigor for their every day work. 

And here will be established a silent school of patriotismy 




THOW/VS R. PROCTOR, 



PRESIDENT proctor's RESPONSE. 39 

where those who in the natural order must succeed us, will come 
and point with pride to the colors under which their fathers 
fought, and they will be inspired to better lives, to broader and 
nobler citizenship and to a higher manhood. 

Let us believe that in that bright citadel of peace — that far 
eS camp beyond the skies where so many of the Grand Army 
have already been mustered, that to-day our comrades there are 
joining with us in singing praises to the God of battle, who in 
his infinite wisdom and mercy vouchsafed to us the/ final 
victory. 

The address was a feeling and eloquent one and at its close 
many were moved to tears. 

Major Miller proposed three cheers for Comrade Proctor, and 
. never were cheers given more heartily. 

Mr. Proctor said: I am much obliged by this unexpected 
expression of your esteem and confidence. 



Cfiapfain Perouson's Prayer. 

Prayer was then offered by Chaplain J. V. Ferguson, who 
said: 

Unto thee, oh God, the giver of all good and the source of 
all blessing, we come with hearts full of tenderness and of 
gratitude for thy wonderful mercies shown to us as a people and 
for the generous guidance that has made possible the exercises 
of this hour. We all know Thee, oh Lord, for the national 
blessings that have come to us. From the earliest period it was 
evident that the God of battles and of nations was caring for 
his people. Through thy great kindness and the inspiration 
thou hast given to the family to erect this structure so beautiful 
and grand that shall perpetuate its memory, adorn the city and 
bless the community by being the receptacle of these tokens and 
emblems that have been held so dear, not only to those who 
have shared common dangers under them, but for the services 
of those by whom these shattered relics came down to us with 
no record of dishonor or neglected duty to mar their importance. 
While these emblems have so large a place and so strong a hold 
on our affections, they tell again the story of long marches and 
tired feelings, and of almost impassable barriers surmounted; 
of burdens almost too heavy for humanity to bear. But we 
thank Thee that they come back witli no less of determination 
to do their whole duty. They tell of dangers of the battlefield 
and of terrible missiles that struck down so many comrades. 
They tell of heroes who fell with the face to the foe, and so they 
shall ever bear the testimony we so love to hear of patriotism 
and devotion to heart and life and the grand work of American 



CHAPLAIN Ferguson's prater. 41 

Citizens. We praise Thee for the emancipation of four mllion 
citizens from their shackels. We thank Thee for perpetuity in 
all lines and everything that has given the country so advanced 
a position among the nations of the world and that its flag is 
respected and lionored wherever known. . We pray for a 
continuance of thy favor. May its rulers be men who fear God 
and work righteousness. We pray that the virtues of morality 
and patriotism may be abiding principles in the heart of every 
citizen. Let all the citizens be imbued by these high sentiments 
while life shall last. We feel a sadness for those of our 
comrades who have gone before, but as has been so beautifully 
expressed, we feel that they are with us in concern on this 
occasion. May these flags sleep together in peace as an emblem 
of the unity of the land. We pray that the time may never 
come that any man shall lisp a word or do a deed that shall sever 
State from State, or city from country, but let every such action 
be paralyzed by the power of God. Bless the widow and orphan 
whose hearts are torn by thoughts of loved ones from whom they 
are severed. Unto Thee, oh God, and the care of this Society 
we now commit these flags thai mean so much and are to us so 
dear. Care for them and us, and unto Thee shall thanks and 
praise be given evermore. Amen. 



Address k Commander S^aw. 

In introducing Commander Shaw, President Proctor said that 
the position of department commander had never been more 
ably filled than by Col. Shaw. As no department commander 
can be re-elected, however, I know I voice your sentiments when. 
I nominate him for commander of the Grand Army of the 
United States. 

The men gave three hearty cheers for Col. Shaw, and 
President Proctor added, ''Now see that you do your duty." 

Commander Shaw said: 

Mi'. Chairman, Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

This will be an historic occasion of ever memorable interest to 
all present who served in the armies of the Union in the late 
civil war from 1861 to 1865. 

During this period one of the greatest wars of the world was 
waged, and willing volunteers furnished the girth and grain of 
the heroic forces which finally wore out the brave and misguided 
assailants of the government of the United States. Measured 
in years, the stupendous conflict was short, but judged by 
results, it was unrivaled in the past history of nations for it& 
importance and commanding influence in settling forever the 
abhorrent tyranny of slavery on our soil, and thus laying aneiif 
on unquestioned foundations of freedom and righteousness, the 
redeemed fabric of a free people's government in this new 
world. 

We meet this day, comrades and citizens, to commemorate the 




COL. A. D. SHAW, 
Commander Department of New York G. A. R. 



ADDRESS OF COMMANDER SHAW. 



43 



achievements of the volunteer soldiers who went to the war as 
defenders of the Union in the period of which I have spoken; 
and we are to take part in th'e deeply interesting exercises 
connected with receiving some of the battle flags of the 
Eepnblic for safe-keeping among the rich historic treasures of 
this Historical Society's fine memorial building. 

A great majority of the battle flags carried by troops raised 
in our great State, in the late war, are deposited at the Capitol 
at Albany, and constitute touching object lessons of the 
bravery and sacrifices of our volunteers. I believe, however, 
that the easier it is made for the descendants of soldiers who 
fought under regimental flags to visit and gaze upon them, the 
richer will be the quickening fruits of the spirit of appreciation 
of duties well done amid the fire and the havoc of bloody battle 
fields. And so I bid you welcome to this unique and thrilling 
scene — one that will never be repeated in the lives of any one 
here present. 

The beautiful flag of our country was born amid the throes of 
the opening agonies of the new birth of freedom on this 
continent. Its history is full of interest to every American. 
On the sea it floated first in action over the renowned naval 
hero, Paul Jones, and on the land at Fort Stanwix, it received 
its first baptism of blood ! Rich inheritance, this, for an ever- 
lasting monument of the heroism of the defenders of this 
yalley, when the opening chapters of an immortal history were 
being written in the blood of its brave defenders. It is the 
famous emblem of our Republic, the 

" Flag of the free heart's hope and home 
By angel hands to valor given." 

And it well becomes every son and daughter of our free soil 
to cherish it with a love and loyalty as precious and deathless as 
liberty itself. 

It is not my purpose to take time in this connection to enlarge 



44 



PRESENTATION OF THE FLAGS. 



upon the glory of our flag, or in any detail review its interesting 
history. I shall endeavor to consider some phases of the lessons 
which are germane to this beautiful occasion, and which should 
make a deep impression upon all our minds. 

The flag of a nation, from the earliest times, has represented 
its organized offensive and defensive power. The banners of an 
army have always been the idol of the rank and file. Men have 
again and again snatched the standard from dead or dying com- 
rades, in the horrid havoc of battle, with a heroism as unselfish 
as ever illuminated the pages of history. And why? Because 
the flag borne high aloft in action represents the cause for which 
men are perilling their liveS; and is, in their eyes, the sign of all 
that is dear to them as soldiers and patriots. In a word, it is 
sentiment that'makes heroes, on and off the battle fields of this 
world. It was sentiment — that of lofty patriotism — which 
inspired Franklin toMeclare that "Where Liberty is, there is my 
Country," during the trying events of the Kevolution. The 
sentiment of patriotism is the inspiration out of which heroes 
are made. As a rule, the environments of youth become the 
real characteristics of age. 

'New England ideas took deep root in the hearts of the rugged 
and stalwart early settlers of this beautiful and historic valley 
of the Mohawk. Upon the early battle grounds around this 
region were sown the seeds of heroic sacrifices in the morning 
dawn of the Eepublic; and the blood of the dauntless Herkimer 
and his soldiers enriched this dear soil as that of lofty-minded 
patriots and true heroes. The lessons taught by their bravery 
and death sunk deep into the hearts of the dwellers along this 
lovely valley, whose charming river is "Fairer than Avon and 
sweeter than Ayr; " and duty's stern voice has never been 
unheeded from the day of their death until the present hour by 
the loyal descendants of the soldiers of whom I have spoken. 

The spirit of 1861 was a revival of the patriotic sentiments of 
1776. The valor of the foimative age of Washington in the 



ADDRESS OF COMMANDER SHAW. 45 

development of a free government was equaled by the protective 
era of Lincoln, and both were fed by the same patriotic fires. 
Both were equal to the needs of their day and generation , 

The American Kevolution founded a new civilization in the 
wilderness of this western world over which the ''Stars and 
Stripes" floated as the sign of its sovereignty. 

In 1861 rebellion, wild and savage, struck at the nation's life 
with more than Titanic power, and raised a new flag, the " Stars 
and bars," as the hateful rival of our Revolutionary emblem. 
Compromises were as dust and ashes when the cry echoed over 
the loyal north — " They have fired upon the ' Stars and Stripes ' 
floating over Sumter's walls." The crisis, long foreshadowed, 
had come at last. Reason had been defied, and the sword was 
unsheathed . The lips of hostile cannon were fringed with fire 
as the dread shots thundered against the flag of our Union and 
its brave defenders. The strongholds of the nation were 
besieged by men who were lost to the old ties of citizenship, and 
who were resolved to destroy the Union or lose all by the cruel 
arbitrament of war. 

In this extreme crisis of the Union's fate, in this tremendous 
holocaust of blood and sacrifice, the volunteers from Oneida 
County went willingly forth in defense of the national 
authorities and to preserve and maintain the inalienable right of 
the majority to rule. No sublimer course ever moved men to 
peril their lives on cruel battle fields than this. And as the 
great conflict went on, and slavery after a time became an 
acknowledged and commanding factor in the problem of a 
redeemed nationality, the cause became doubly just and inspir- 
ing. Looking backward as only veterans can, and taking into 
view the four years of internecine strife in this epoch of trans- 
cendent glory in our country's history, it is hard to keep back the 
tears. Memory gilds this past with recollections of services 
rendered a common country, and of scenes and sacrifices beyond 
the power of words to describe. 



4^ PRESENTATION OF THE FLA.GS. 

These flags, if they could speak, could tell tales of valor and 
of blood, as they were borue in the hell of battle, which would 
melt in pity every heart before me. Why was all this bloodshed 
and the colossal destruction and burden of tliis war inevitable ? 
Abraham Lincoln, the greatest ruler that ever graced and blest 
the earth, summed it all up in these words in his ever memorable 
Second Inaugural Address: " On the occasion corresponding to 
this, four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an 
impending civil war. All dreaded it; all sought to avert it. 
While the Inaugural Address was being delivered from this 
place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, 
insurgent agents were in the city, seeking to destroy it without 
war, seeking to dissolve the Union and divide its effects, by 
negotiation. Both parties depreciated war; but one of them 
would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the 
other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war 
came." These words sound like the sayings of the prophets of 
old, and present the fact that an "irrepressible conflict" had 
come in the life of the nation. Sectionalism had divided the 
allegiance of the south, and led to the rebellion against the 
authority of the Union. 

In this light, thirty-two years after the close of this unhappy 
and destructive Civil War, the questions arise of how best to 
inspire our whole people with the safe sentiments of patriotism, 
in the love of the flag, one country and a common nationality ? 
I answer first, by 

The CoMMOisr Cultuee of Patriotic Teachings 

In every school in the nation. It is now universally 
acknowledged that without sectional teachings the war of the 
great rebellion would have been impossible. It is the law of 
ages that a divided house is always in trouble. Common text- 
books in all of the common schools of the Union, based upon 



ADDRESS OF COMMANDER SHAW. 47 

l>road principles of American history, uncolored by prejudice 
and just in their worthy treatment of a happily ended conflict, 
are the sure agencies of future concord and lasting union. 
Unite with these patriotic exercises, properly arranged so as to 
teach loyalty and love for the flag, and such drill movements as 
will make the body strong and beautiful, while developing the 
mind in patriotism and the highest citizenship, and the safety 
and glory of our great country will be forever assured. 

A country of sections is always in danger of revolutions. A 
common heritage, based upon righteousness, begets sentiments 
■of loyalty and patriotism of commanding security and peace. 
With us the chains of slavery and the hates of passionate war 
times have been buried in one common grave, that of the "dead 
past." There is no longer reason for irritating controversies 
•over the settlement of a struggle which, under God, resulted in 
a new birth of freedom . What could not be reasoned out by voice 
and pen was fought out by sword and gun; and the blue and 
the gray have lived to unite in a common citizenship again, even 
more loyal to the Stars and Stripes than they were before the 
war began. What was taught and settled at the cannon's 
mouth and on the bloody battle plain, in this war period, could 
have been taught and peacefully settled in the schools and 
homes of the nation, if a broader and more unselfish policy of 
patriotic citizenship had been the loyal sentiment of our whole 
people . 

The veterans of the war, south and north, realize as no one 
else can what war means and what war costs; and veterans are 
bravest and tenderest when brave soldiers win or lose m battle, 
in their after relations with each other. To have lived to see 
the sentiments of loyalty to the flag and Union become common 
over all the land after our bitter civil war, is a crown of glory 
to every veteran who perilled his life to save the Union. 

We are living in an age of high speed, and this calls for keen 
oversight to keep us on the safe track of development. We 



48 PRESENTATION OF THE FLAGS. , 

must see to it that patriotism becomes a commanding sentiment 
along all national lines, and that the sentiment of honor more 
and more becomes the inspiring glory of yonth and age. To 
this end the stars and stripes should be cherished as the sign of 
American greatness and the object of our universal love. 

What a beautiful sight it is to see our Nation's Flag floating 
over the school houses in a large number of States, educating 
the sentiment of loyalty to our institutions in this blessed era of 
reunited and commanding American citizenship. Why has this 
new custom of displaying the Stars and Stripes over the schools 
come into such widespreading observance ? For the reason that 
the sentiment of patriotism has quickened the forces of love of 
flag and country as a result of the bloody struggle for the 
defense of our revolutionary heritage, and in redeeming the 
nation from the tyranny of slavery. Common sacrifices taught 
sober judgment after the battles ended. Eeason and righteous- 
ness are in the advance in our present uplifting blessings of 
American civilization. Dangers there indeed are, and evils 
widespread and serious on every hand, but the American heart 
is broadly true to justice and liberty; and the teachings of 
Christ — the head of the world's true democracy — are making 
sure headway. 

Lovers of Ameriean institutions should do all in their power 
to foster the best elements in the life of our people; Every 
safeguard of culture, based upon patriotic sentiments, should 
be universally provided and loyally maintained. Foreign 
countries little love our larger liberty, and foreigners still regard 
our Republic as a dangerous and uncertain experiment. We 
must therefore look for safe inspirations within our own 
country for our future development in obtaining a higher 
national life. The democratic idea of equality before the law 
and of equal political privileges for all good citizens should be 
universally and jealously guarded, and never betrayed. 

Before the Mayflower, in the Old World, the classes ruled 



ADDRESS OF COMMANDER SHAW. 49 

the masses. Since Plymouth Rock became a stepping-stone 
for a juster religious and political creed, the masses have had 
control of American institutions, and their object lessons — 
despite irritating weaknesses in the past — of a peoples' govern- 
ment, have shaken the crowns on the heads of hereditary 
monarchs ever since. Had the Puritan and the Cavalier, from 
the first landing on our shores, been guided by the same 
principles of equality, the bloody period of secession would have 
been possibly avoided. With the same spirit of national culture 
in force on the banks of the James as there was on the shores of 
the Hudson, sectionalism would have been swallowed up in 
unity. 

Our National Moral Force. 

In little over a hundred years our nation has become a 
mighty moral force jn the world. The material development 
and educational opportunities have become the wonder of our 
great age. In peace and in war Americans have proved their 
right to rank among the highest and greatest statesmen and 
generals of history. In statesmanship, tested in new problems 
of government as never rulers before were tried, we present our 
Washington and our Lincoln. In generalship, we rest our 
claims with Clrant as the greatest soldier, all in all, of the 
centuries. Thus we have in the world's view three Americans 
of universal reputation, as the product of our American devel- 
opment, within the cycle of our first century of national 
life. I know of no other similar and sufficient parallel. And 
in area and population we stand in the foremost rank of civilized 
peoples . 

We have proved our American quality in the circles of 
national responsibilities in settling questions of vast difficulties 
in such a way as call forth the unstinted praise of the leading 
foreign statesmen of our time, and we have proved that we can 



50 PRESENTATION OF THE FLAGS. 

govern ourselves aud secure peace and progress through trusting 
all our people with the ballot. 

Art is being grandly developed along all lines of culture, so 
that genius everywhere seeks our shores and commends our 
support. Our past has been glorious beyond the most sanguine 
prophecies of our early founders; and our future will be worthy 
of our great opportunities, if we are only true to ourselves. 
We should stand steadfastly for American Institutions, and 
cultivate more and more reverence for God and love of our 
whole country. There should be no place in American hearts 
for old world theories based upon hereditary wealth aud power. 
Not exclusive privileges for the favored few but equal rights for 
all, is the true glory of our birthright. 

The best model of righteous government is found in our 
country where the principles of liberty, fraternity and equality 
are living rights common to every child and resting on the man- 
hood of the whole people. If eternal vigilance was truly the 
price of American liberty at the first, equally true must it be 
that eternal vigilance will be the price of safe and enduring 
American principles of self-government in coming years. We 
have won the right in a little more than a single century of 
national life to lead the world in all that uplifts individuals and 
promotes and secures their happiness and independence. The 
loyal duty is placed upon us of holding the vantage ground on 
liberty's high plane we have already won, and of making it 
impregnable through wise actions and loyal inspirations. Do 
even favored Americans fully realize what our boasted liberty 
has cost, and what it really represents? I sometimes fear not. 
If we did, we should be braver and more loyal in the defense of 
our blood-bought rights, and more alert and self-sacrificing in 
maintaining virtue and honor in our public and private life. A 
worthy appreciation of our birthright — bought at such a cost of 
heroic sacrifices, in the throes of the revolution and in the fiery 



ADDRESS OF COMMANDER SHAW. 51 

furnace of the rebellion — burning in every American heart 
would shut out all aping of foreign ways and all alliances with 
titled branches of needy and decaying old aristocratic families, 
where bank accounts are the one almost always controlling ele- 
ment in the marriages of American heiresses by foreigners. I 
judge this to be true, because I have yet fco hear of a single 
''love match " of this foreign sort, where an American girl 
without money has been sought out and married by titled 
personages in foreign lands. My own view is that within our 
country there are ample opportunities for American' heiresses to 
marry Americans, and thus add to the elements of American 
possibilities within the land Americans have developed, and 
where American heiresses have to look for the source of their 
wealth ! 

I go a step further and say that the worthy son of a worthy 
American veteran is the highest rank of true manliness among 
men. If there is a nobler birthright than this I do not know 
where to look for it. 

When our culture of American love for our dear country 
becomes a more consuming fire than it is now, we shall see less 
bending of the "pregnant hinges of the knee" to foreign 
fashions, foreign residence, foreign ideas and foreign manners, 
and more reverence for American rights, American rulers and 
American ideals from every condition in our homes and 
society. 

I refer to these important truths here and now, because this 
meeting calls up memories sweet and sad of our earlier and later 
struggles for a people's government. I see before me veterans 
who had a proud part in the late war, and who marched and 
fought under these battle flags we shall to-day consign to the 
final custody of this worthy Historical Society. Only a 
comparatively few are present who followed them in the shock 
of battle, for the harvest of death has gathered them into their 



52 PRESENTATION OP THE PLAGS. 

eternal home. When all these dear defenders are gone, these- 
flags will long remain as object lessons of a glorious service, 
immortal in the annals of mankind. These silken banners will 
slowly crumble to dust, in future years, but the spirit that 
defended them and brought them forth is as eternal as the stars 
in the heavens. The Great Teacher of Gallilee laid it down as 
a great law of life that seed sown must die before the after- 
growth could be assured. It is even so in all patriotic teachings. 
The deeds of heroes become the seed of citizenship growing up 
into freeman equal to every duty, and blessed of God unto all 
good works and ways. 

Another leading lesson Christ taught, in answer to ensnaring 
questions, was this: " Render into Caesar the things that are 
Ca3sar's, and unto God the things that are God's." In thus 
defining duties, political and spiritual. He laid down the 
fundamental principle of a pure democracy, and upon this pro- 
found and inspired truth rests all our hopes for the future. 
And Paul declared, "Look not every man on his own things, 
but every man also on the things of others." 

The Eetrospect and Prospect. 

We stand too near the great events which have in part their 
representation here this day to fairly sum up the true grandeur 
of the service which our volunteers rendered humanity at large 
and our common country, when war's bloody tempests swept in 
fury over this land. 

A few days ago I had placed in my hands a little volume 
entitled ''Underground Railroad Sketches." I was riding by 
rail in a swiftly moving train, and as I read the simple narrative 
of how fugitive slaves were passed through free States to the goal 
of safety and freedom in Canada, I was deeply moved. Within 
the memory of many living, passengers on this historic under- 



ADDRESS OF COMMANDER SHAW. 53 

ground railway were guarded and sent on their perilous way, as 
men and brethren, seeking the yearned for blessings of freedom. 
Let me read to you one incident. A colored man stands upon the 
auction block, dignified in manner, with serious countenance, 
and silent. " Now gentlemen and ladies," says the auctioneer, 
''I offer you a first class servant. He is honest and faithful, 
and moreover lie is a Christian; no sham, I tell you, but a 
genuine, conscientious Christian man. He would die rather 
than commit a wrong act or betray his master. How much do 
you offer for a servant that you can depend upon every time.", I 
make no needless comment on this revolting scene, which 
actually took place just before the breaking out of the rebellion 
in 1861. 

Looking backward it seems like a bad dream to recall the fact 
that there were 3,952,608 slaves in our country in the year of 
our Lord 1860, every one liable to be sold like animals, on the 
auction blocks, in slave pens. When I shut this little book and 
looked out upon the beautiful scenes as we swiftly passed 
through this valley of the Mohawk, the thoughts that surged 
-through my soul brought the quick falling tears. Surely, I 
thought, the bloody sweat of almost numberless heroes, the 
■enormous material losses, the thousands of battle-blots — all these 
were indeed not in vain, for the shackles fell from all the slaves 
fcefore the final surrender. 

"And henceforth there shall be no chain, 
Save underneath the sea, 
The wires shall murmur through the main, 
Sweet songs of liberty," 

That great philosopher — one of the greatest our country or 
the world has ever produced, — Theodore Parker, in a discourse 
in Music Hall, Boston, in 1854, seven years before the war, 
closed his eloquent and profound speech in these prophetic 
words: "One day the north will rise in her majesty and put 



64 PRESENTATION OF THE FLAGS. 

slavery under our feet, and then we shall extend the area of 
freedom. The blessing of Almighty God will come down upon 
the noblest people the world ever saw, who have triumphed 
over Theocracy, Monarchy, Aristocracy, Despotocracy, and have 
a Democracy — a government of all, for all and by all, * * * 
a State without a king, a community without a lord, and a 
family without a slave." 

What a glorious prophecy was this; and you and I, comrades 
and citizens, who lived and fought, or supported the soldiers»in 
the field, were partakers in its more glorious fulfillment. We 
saw the ''one day" dawn which Theodore Parker predicted 
with unerring spiritual vision, in our young manhood's 
morning, and we this day thank God that our lot was 
cast amid such manifestations of true liberty. Your loyal 
deeds have been wrought into the world's great heart, and as 
we meet this remnant of as brave soldiers as ever drew sword or 
carried gun in war to witness the simple ceremonies of deposit- 
ing the flags you loved and defended in the safe keeping of this 
historic monument, let me again congratulate you on this 
impressive scene. Whatever disappointments may have crossed 
the path of veterans since the war, one thing is beyond the 
reach of the changes and worries of this world, and that is the 
grand, completed record of volunteer service in behalf of a 
redeemed Union, and in securing the freedom of every slave on 
American soil. This fact is more eloquent than any words can 
possibly be, so I shall not attempt the impossible by striving to 
add to its surpassing grandeur and glory. 

David S. Coddington declared during our war that "our 
greatest General was our General Greatness," and in the pros- 
pect of the future this truth must be kept in mind. We are 
living in the closing years of the greatest century in the life of 
man; and our nation which was feeble in resources and com- 
paratively few in numbers at its opening in the year 1800, will 



ADDRESS OF COMMANDER SHAW. 55 

be ''great, glorious and free" in 1900. From 5,000,000 souls 
we will have increased to 80,000,000 during this wonderful 
period in the world's history. Amazing progress from every 
point of view. Along moral and industrial lines we are the 
wonder of older nations. The mind would stagger under a 
recital of the commerce, internal and external, which is annually 
moved by our avenues of transportation, and of the output of 
all our industries. This is not the occasion for full details of 
this character, but the fruits of our peaceful era have their 
seedtime in part in the travail of the nation when these 
flags were first placed within the keeping of Oneida County 
volunteers . 

COIfCLUSION^. 

Thus, comrades and friends, 1 have spoken from a full heart, 
to the best of my ability, concerning several important questions 
and sentiments which seemed to me worthy of consideration at 
this historic meeting. I have fallen far short of what I desired 
to present for your consideration, but it is always true that the 
inspiration which move ene in contemplation are greater than 
any spoken words. 

These flags, respectively carried by the 14th, 26th, 97th, 117th, 
146th Infantry Regiments, the 2d Heavy Artillery, and the 3d 
Light Artillery, N. Y. S. V., constitute now treasures for this 
worthy Memorial and Historical Building. It will not be long 
before the precious souvenirs of Grand Army Posts will also be 
gathered into similar repositories for safe-keeping in all of the 
States where such posts are located . The sure harvest of death 
is fast decimating the ranks of our noble order, and very soon 
these precious flags alone will remain to view as the dear 
objects which departed veterans loved so well and cherished so 
fondly. 

The battles of the war were all long since ended, while the 



56 PRESENTATION OF THE FLAGS. 

battle of life daily confronts us all. It is for each veteran to so 
live as to prove worthy of the service he rendered his country in 
war in the nobler battles of a good life work in peace. Heroes 
are needed in time of peace as well as in periods of war. The 
still, small voice of duty demands brave actions in ever increas- 
ing numbers, and to live right, in the uplifting associations of 
manly virtues, in all good words and works, constitutes true 
heroism and nobility of character. 

When these flags are placed on easy view let the children come 
at least once a year and look with uncovered heads upon them — 
mute, but eloquent in their silence, and thus receive safe 
inspirations of patriotism and love of country. Let the ''Stars 
and Stripes " become a treasure m every home, in every place of 
business, and in ever church; display it over every school -house, 
and make it the chief ornament at every private and public 
function everywhere within our borders. If we love and cherish 
it at home, the world will respect and honor it abroad. Let it 
become a universal monument of a "more perfect Union;" and 
under its folds let freedom ring out, from the centre all round 
to the seas, the glad sentiment, one Flag, one Country and one 
National Destiny. 

Let every public meeting, outside of church services, close by 
singing ''America," and thus fix in the heart of hearts of all 
our people the safe and sweet sentiments of appreciative national 
patriotism. 

Comrades: When the final taps are sounded and our days on 
earth are ended, may we all pass within the vail, leaving seeds 
of loyalty and love of liberty behind us that will take root in 
young hearts, and thus add to the great heritage of liberty 
saving elements of Christian citizenship, happy safeguards, 
equal to all the dangers and needs of future generations. 
" To the hero, when his sword 

Has won the battle for the free, 
Death's voice sounds like a prophets' word ; 

And in its hollow tones are heard 
The thanks of millions yet to be! " 



ADDRESS OF COMMANDER SHAW. 57 

J.^B. Jones proposed three cheers for the next Commander- 
in-Chief of the G. A. R., and they were given with great 
heartiness. 

President Proctor then introduced Mrs. Louise Cooper 
Graham-Schantz, who wrote the letter presenting the flag of 
the 117th Regiment. Many of the comrades came forward and 
shook, hands with her. Commander Shaw proposed three 
cheers for the lady, which were given. 

The exercises closed with the singing of "America." The 
boys'k^then repaired to the adjoining room and saw the flags 
deposited in a place of safe keeping. 



68 PRSSEI<)TATION OF THE FLAGS. 

[From the Utica Daily Press, December 15, 1897.] 

Tl?e Flags preSei?ted. 



Yesterday's flag presentation at the Munson- William© 
Memorial Building was an occasion of unusual interest. The 
arrangements were perfect and carried out faultlessly. The 
addresses were timely, instructive and entertaining by men of 
prominence and ability. Not less deserving were many whose 
formal part was perhaps not so large, but whose interest in the 
banners was as intense, the men who followed where they led, 
who bore brave freemen's part m the fight which preserved the 
Union. They came from various points scattered through 
Central New York and took pride in the occasion. It was a 
notable gathering as well as a notable event. Commander 
Shaw, at the head of the State Department of the Grand Army 
of the Eepublic, honored the day with his presence and added 
to it by his excellent oration. General Curtis, familiarly known 
as the "Hereof Fort Fisher," told the story of that famous 
battle as only he could tell it. To T. R. Proctor much of the 
splendid success of yesterday's ceremonies is due, for his was 
the guiding hand, and what he undertakes never fails of realiz- 
ing the fullest expectation. His thoughtful attention and 
courteous hospitality were features greatly appreciated. 

Yesterday's flag presentation might have been more 
appropriately called flag preservation. They are now in safe 
keeping where for years and years to come no harm shall touch 
them, no negligence befall them and where time's aging 
influence will be reduced to the minimum. Securely encased 
and carefully guarded, they will remain the emblems of a 



EDITORIALS PRESS AND OBSERVER. 59 

counti-y's patriotism long after those who bore and those who 
followed them have fought their last fight and gone to their 
long home. It is eminently fitting that these flags should be 
gathered together under one roof where all can see them and 
feel that they are safe from loss or accidental destruction. No 
better place could be found for them, none more appropriate, 
none more reliable and secure. There has been no change of 
proprietorship only of location. The veterans are proud and 
pleased that the banners they bore so well have found so 
permanent and appropriate a home. There they will be an 
inspiration to thousands, who looking at the worn and tattered 
standards will be prompted to recall what they represent and to 
revere the memory of those who used them in the trying times 
of civil war. No other section sent braver or more loyal 
soldiers to the front than this and no honors are too great to 
bestow upon them. It was a happy thought which suggested 
bringing all these old flags together, as has been done. No 
better or worthier disposition could have been made of them. 
A part of this country's history, they will be sacredly kept by 
the Oneida Historical Society in its splendid Munson- Williams 
Memorial Building. Yesterday was a red letter day in the 
calendar of the local veterans, one long to be pleasantly 
remembered . 



[From the Utica Observer, December 15, 1897.] 

Ii? I:l?e /\di?soi?-Williai9?s /^e|99orial 



Yesterday was a day which will never be forgotten by any 
who participated in the events within the walls of the Munson- 
Williams Memorial. The war flags and the trophies of th^^ 



60 



PRESENTATION OF THE FLAGS. 



Oneida County Eegiments in the war of the rebellion were then 
and there formally, and with heartfelt words, placed in the 
custody of the Oneida Historical Society to be held in sacred 
keeping '* beyond the touch, but in sight of all who may wish 
to see them," as Mr. Proctor felicitously expressed it. And, 
by the way, when his touching address accepting the trust on 
behalf of the Society was ended, and tear-wet veterans arose as 
one with mighty cheers for him, there was no doubt remaining 
that these colors were now in a better custody than ever before 
they had been — though they came from loving hands. 

Col. Shaw, the orator of the day, was right when he said with 
broken voice that none present would ever look on such a scene 
again. The stoutest hearts were melted by the incidents of the 
afternoon . 

"The bravest are the tenderest." 

Col. Shaw was himself so affected by the spirit of the occasion 
that his address, which thousands read in type last evening, 
was delivered with an eloquence and earnestness which deeply 
impressed every listener. 

The tribute paid in the evening to Gen. Curtis, 'Hhe Hero of 
Fort Fisher," by the full attendance despite the driving storm, 
was one of which the speaker was eminently worthy. And 
*' The Story of Fort Fisher " was well worth hearing. Its effect 
was heightened when he was able to point to soldiers in the 
audience, men of the 117th, who were with him iii the fight 
and to tell of their individual deeds. The whole story was told 
with the dignity of a statesman and the modesty of a hero. 

Yesterday's events fully doubled the numbers of the friends 
of the Oneida Historical Society, and the home of the Society 
will hereafter have a new and inspiring interest. Mr. Proctor 
has not often presented a better idea than that which was suc- 
cessfully carried out yesterday. 




GEIN. N. n. CURTIS. 



Address of Generaf N, fl, Curtis. 

In the evening the anditorium of the MunBon-Williams 
Memorial was filled with Grand Army men and their wives, and 
members of the Society. Geneval Curtis was greeted with 
hearty applause as he entered the hall with Thomas E. Proctor, 
the Vice President of the Society. 

Mr. Proctor introduced General Curtis with these words: 
"Ladies and gentlemen — it requires but four words to introduce 
of the lecturer of the evening, ' the Hero of Fort Fisher.' " 

General Curtis spoke for an hour and a half, illustrating his 
lecture by a large wall map. His graphic storyfof the battle in 
which he bore so prominent a part aroused the patriotism of his 
audience. Eclating to the first expedition he said in part: 

At the first interview between General Grant and Admiral 
Porter, the admiral objected to the selection of General Butler 
to command the army forces. At this interview Weitzel was 
agreed upon. General Grant directed General Butler to send 
General Weitzel down to reconnoiter Fort Fisher. General 
Grant states in forwarding Butler's report of January 3, 1865, 
that " my orders to General Butler to prepare it were given 
verbally, to avoid publicity of the time of sailing and destina- 
tion." December 6, 1864, in writing instructions to General 
Butler General Grant stated: ''The first object of the 
expedition under General Weitzel is to close to the enemy the 
port of Wilmington. * * * The object of the expedition 
will be gained by effecting a landing on the mainland between 
Cape Fear Eiver and the Atlantic north of the north entrance 



■62 ADDRESS OF GEN. CURTIS. 

to the river. Should such hindiiig be effected whilst the enemy 
still hold Fort Fisher and the batteries guarding the entrance to 
the river, then the troops should entrench themselves and by 
co-operating with the navy effect the reduction and capture of 
those pieces.-' General Butler, at 10 p. m., December 24, 1864, 
wrote Admiral Porter: 

*' We will endeavor to effect a landing above Flag Pond Hill 
battery, between that and Half Moon, at such an hour as may 
be fixed upon by consultation between yotirself and General 
Weitzel, who will have command of the troops, and who will 
meet you at any hour you choose to arrange details. * * * 
I design, in the first place, to send on shore a party of recon- 
noissance sufficiently strong to hold the landing if we gain a 
good hold, and then to land as rapidly as possible our whole 
force, and if from the reconnoissance it is deemed practicable 
to attempt an assault on Fort Fislier the assault will be made." 

Under the plans agreed upon between General Weitzel and 
Admiral Porter, I was detailed to land with 500 of my brigade 
by row boats supplied by the navy, in charge of Lieutenant 
(now Commodore) Farquier. Having got my men in the 
boats formed in line with a launch carrying a howitzer on each 
flank, I directed them to maintain their alignment and reach the 
shore as soon as possible; at the same time requesting the 
Lieutenant to put me on the beach in advance of the dine. 
About this time I saw a boat pass the right of my line headed 
for the shore. I asked that I be landed first. My crew were 
the better oarsmen and I landed and carried Captain Glisson's 
flag, taken from the gig, to the sand dunes before our com- 
petitors reached the shore. The boat brought General Weitzel. 
He congratulated me on winning the race and said, "I had 
offered !|'1,000 to beat your boat." I said the difference between 
a boats crew from a transport and one from a United States 
man-of-war was more than SI, 000, and that all I had to do was 



ADDRESS OF CEN. CURTIS. 63 

to request the officer in charge to land me first. As soon as the 
troops lanaed and formed in line, pickets were thrown out to 
the north and west, and flankers as we moved down the beach. 
Soon after we started Captain Koonts, Company A, 42d North 
Carolina Infantry, occupying Flag Pond Battery, half a mile 
south of our landing, raised a white flag, indicating his desire to 
surrender, and his command of sixty- seven men and officers 
were taken off by boats from the naval vessels. The log book 
of the Santiago de Cuba, of December 25, 1864, states that we 
took possession of Flag Pond Battery at 3 p.m. We then 
marched down the beach about one mile south of Flag Pond 
Battery and halted. General Weitzel made a careful examina- 
tion of Fort Fisher and its surroundings and stated the fort 
was not injured by the navy fire — only one gun displaced — and 
requested me to take his glass and report how I found it. I 
looked and agreed with him as to the physical condition of the 
work. We were at that time about one and one-half miles north 
of Fort Fisher. General Weitzel says in his report; ''Ipro- 
oeeded in person, accompanying the 14:2d New York, to within 
about 800 yards of Fort Fisher, a point from which I had a good 
view of the work. • From what I saw there and before that time, 
and from what I had heard from what I considered reliable 
sources, I believe the work to be a square bastioned work; it has 
a high relief, a wide and deep ditch, excepting on the sea front, 
a glacis, has casemates and bomb-proofs sufficiently large to 
hold its garrison. * * * * I returned, as directed, to the 
Major General commanding, found him on the gunboat Cham- 
berlain within easy range and good view of the work, and 
frankly reported to him that it would be butchery to order an 
assault on that work under the circumstances, After examining 
it himself carefully, he came to the same conclusion, and directed 
the troops to be re-embarked ." 

General Weitzel makes no mention of the orders given me 



64 ADDRESS OF GEN. CURTIS. 

when he left to report to General Butler, but in his testimony 
before the Committee on the Conduct of the War, page 7G, he 
says: "After I had made a reconnoissance, I returned, as I 
had been directed, to General Butler, to make my report. I 
directed Genera] Curtis to remain in command, and to push on 
towards the work until he was stopped, and to find out what 
was there; and if he discovered anything new to immediately 
report it to General Butler, and I left a signal sergeant with 
him for that purpose." 

It was probably about 3.30 p. m. when General Weitzel left 
me to report to General Butler. The signal sergeant did not 
remain with me. In General Butler's testimony before the 
Committee on Conduct of the War, page 23, he says: ''Gen. 
Weitzel stated that he thought it was impossible to assault the 
fort successfully. Being unwilling to leave the matter without 
trying, and seeing from the state of the weather that it must be 
an l^assault or nothing, I said to Col. Comstock, who was on 
board with me, 'Jump into a boat with Gen. Weitzel, (Col. R. 
H. Jackson, not Gen. Weitzel, went with Col. Comstock,) pull 
ashore, and examine with General Weitzel, (Colonel Jackson) 
and report to me if an assault is feasible; to me it does not 
look possible, but I am unwilling to give up.' I had a vivid 
perception of the future which has overtaken me. They went 
on shore. The surf had begun to rise, so that they got very 
wet in landing. At the same time General Graham reported to 
me. He said: 'General, you have got either to provide for 
those troops to-night on shore some way, or get them off, 
because it is getting so rough that we cannot land much longer.' 
****** Considering a few moments, I determined 
the course of action that should govern me." 

All this must have occurred before 4 p. m., Capt. James Alden, 
commanding the U. S. S. Brooklyn, reports: * * * "At 4 
o'clock, just two hours after the landing commenced, the general 



ADDRESS OF GEN. CURTIS. 65 

commanding came alongside of this ship and said: 'It has 
become necessary to re-embark the troops; will you send your 
boats to assist?' You can judge of my surprise at the turn 
affairs had taken, for at that moment everything seemed pro- 
pitious, the bombardment was at its hight, little or no surf on 
the beach, and no serious indications of bad weather." 

The reconnoitering party effected a landing at 3.10 p. m., and 
was followed by all the second division and one regiment of 
colored troops, (about 4,000 men,) before the order to re-embark 
was given by General Butler. All remained on the beach near 
the point of landing excepting a portion of the first brigade. 
At four o'clock, when the order was given to re-embark a 
detachment of the reconnoitering party had reached Craig's 
Landing, and Lieutenant Simpson cut the telegraph wire, thus 
breaking communication between the fort and Willmington. 
The skirmish line was approaching tlie fort, and less than half a 
mile away. At 4.20, when a navy shot cut the garrison flag- 
staff, the skirmishers were at the stockade, and Lieutenant 
"Walling in command, went through the ditch, stockade, up the 
parapet, and brought the flag away. He presented it to me at 
the bank of the ditch. I immediately sent an officer to the 
reserve and directed them to immediately come down to the 
earthwork at Cape Fear Kiver about 800 yards north of the 
flank of the fort, and then go up the beach and report to 
General Butler that we had cut the telegraph line, breaking 
communication with Willmington, and captured the garrison 
flag, which I was about to take to the beach and exhibit to the 
navy that they might direct their fire in support of any sub- 
sequent movements we should make. Two musket shots were 
directed at the party carrying the flag to the beach. They went 
over us. Quite high shots you can see, in order to go over the 
head of one of the party. After reaching the beach, and seeing 
no movement on the part of the reserve, I went up to ascertain 



66 ADDRESS OF GEN. CURTIS. 

the failure to comply with my order to advance, and was then 
imformed that a short time before the receipt of my order an 
order had been received from the commanding general to retire 
up the beach, and that it had been sent to me at the western 
end of the line, and in view of the fact that it was an order 
from my superior, my own order being directly contrary to that 
from headquarters, had been held in abeyance until I should be 
made aware of the nature of the order of the commanding 
general. This order was probably received at the reserve about 
the time the flag was captured. Notwithstanding the order to 
retire, I took such of my brigade as had come up and moved down 
to the earthwork before mentioned; some 800 yards from the fori, 
sending the 117th regiment up the Wilmington road running 
near the Cape Fear Eiver with orders to advance a mile if they 
could do so without resistance from the enemy, and to establish 
a picket line to extend from the Cape Fear River across the 
peninsula to the flankers we had already thrown out when we 
marched down the beach . In making this movement. Captain 
Stevens, with two men, went in advance of the regiment as 
skirmishers to prevent its falling into an ambush, and when 
they had advanced a little to the north of Craig's Landing 
Major Reese, of the North Carolina Junior Reserves, stepped 
into the road, threw up his hands and surrendered before a shot 
had been fired or the regiment had arrived in sight. A portion 
of his command escaped, but some 230 officers and men 
were brought in and finally sent north. The regiment at the 
same time captured two guns of a light battery and six caissons. 
A courier carrying a message out of the fort was shot and his 
horse taken only a short distance from the parapet. At the 
conclusions of these operations a second order was received 
directing me to retire. To this I sent in reply a communication 
stating what had been accomplished subsequently to my first 
report, stating there was no enemy in sight and that no 



ADDBESS OF GEN. CURTIS. 67 

resistance had been offered beyond the two musket shots fired at 
_ the party carrying the flag to the beach, and I shoiikl hold his 
order in abeyance until the commanding general could become 
acquainted with the defenseless condition of the work. Soon 
after this, at dark, Colonel Comstock and Colonel Jackson came 
to this out- work, closely followed by the division commander. 
To them a detailed statement was made of the operations of the 
reconnoitering party up to the time of their arrival, and they 
were requested to notify General Butler, that in my opinion the 
fort could be successfully assaulted the next morning, one hour 
after the navy should open fire. Neither of these officers would 
assume any responsibility as to my failure to comply with the 
•orders to retire, but General Ames stated, " If you feel confident 
that you can capture the fort you ought to make the attempt with 
the men you have at your disposal." I stated that it was then dark 
and the navy was retiring, and as it retired the enemy would come 
out from their bombproofs and man their guns and would 
slaughter me should I then attempt an assault without the pro- 
tection of the naval fire, and that I covild not assault until 
daylight and the navy should keep the enemy in their bomb- 
proofs. These officers returned. Colonel Comstock, as I 
believed from what he said, intended to advise General Butler to 
prepare for an assault the next morning. One hour after this 
I received the third order to retire, which I complied with by 
withdrawing my skirmishers from the fort and pickets from the 
Wilmington road, and with our prisoners marched up the beach 
to the point of debarkation. There I found that the troops 
which had landed and remained on the beach in that vicinity 
had all re-embarked. I got off a portion of my command and 
the commissioned confederate officers, when the surf became so 
high the boats could not live, as stated by those in command of 
them. Between six and seven hundred of my command and 



ADDKESS OF GEN. CURTIS. 



two hundred and thirty prisoners remained on shore until we 
were taken off on the following Tuesday afternoon. 



From an examination of the chronological order of events, ag 
they transpired from 2.10 P. m. until 4 p.m., it will be seen that 
about two-thirds of General Butler's command effected a land- 
ing on the beach, and that no report from the reconnoitering 
party, which had been sent to the front with orders " to report 
anything tliat might be discovered to General Butler," 
had been received by him. He had acted solely on 
his own judgment and the advice of General Weitzel 
not to assault based on the information obtained from the 
observation made of the fort at a distance of a mile and a 
half — a distance so great that he could not see its formation, as 
is evidenced by his report, in which he states that ''it was a 
square bastioned fort, with casemates and a glacis." It really 
had one bastion, no casemates and no glacis. General Butler 
did not wait to receive a report of the discoveries made by the 
reconnoitering party, and failed to wait for a report from 
Colonel Comstocd and Colonel Jackson, who were sent ashore to 
specially ascertain if in their opinion ''an assault was feasible." 
The opinion of General Weitzel not to assault the work was made 
in absolute ignorance of the orders to General Butler, wherein 
it was stated "the object of the expedition will be gained by 
effecting a landing on the mainland between Cape Fear Kiver 
and the Atlantic north of the north entrance to the river." 



General Butler telegraphed at 8 p. m., December 27, 1864, to 
General Grant, announcing the return of the expedition to 
Fortress Monroe, and gave a brief summary of the events 



I 



ADDRESS OF GEN. CURTIS. 69 

attending it. At 5.30 p. m , December 28, President Lincoln 
telegraphed General Grant as follows : 

" If there be no objections please tell me what you now under- 
stand of the Wilmington expedition, present and prospective." 
To which General Grant replied, at 8.30 p. m.: ''The Wil- 
mington expedition has proven a gross and culpable failure. 
Many of the troops are now back here. Delays and free talk of 
the object of the expedition enabled the enemy to move troops 
to Wilmington to defeat it. After the expedition sailed from 
Fortress Monroe three days of fine weather was squandered, during 
which the enemy was without a force to protect himself. Who 
is to blame I hope will be known." 



The morning of the 29th of December, the transport upon 
which I returned from Fort Fisher dropped anchor in Hampton 
Koads, I went on shore for breakfast and was sent for by Gen. 
Grant and questioned as to what I saw and did after landing at 
Fort Fisher. I gave him a detailed account of the operations 
of my command while on shore, and a description of the fort. 
He stated that my description differed from that of other officerg, 
who reported it as a "square bastioned work with casemates and 
glacis, and its exterior sides averaging about 200 yards." I 
replied that I had been within a few yards of it and knew it 
had no casemates, no glacis and only one bastioned angle, and 
that its land face was about half a mile long, and 
its sea face over a mile long; no parapet on the south 
or west. He said the expedition ought not to have failed 
and that he might desire to hear further from me. I returned 
to my ship io wait for other transports to come in before we 
should proceed up the river. 

In a few hours after I left General Grant I received a telegram 
from General Weitzel to report at once to his headquarters. I 



10 ADDRESS OF GEN. CURTIS. 

went up in advance of my troops, and when I reached 
General Weitzel's headquarters he said he had sent for me in 
obedience to a telegram from General Grant, who wanted a 
detailed account of what I and the officers of my command who 
were nearest the fort had seen. I sent for Captain Walling, 
143 New York, who brought the garrison flag from the fort, 
Lieutenant George Simpson, 143d New York, who cut the 
telegraph wire, and Lieutenant G. W. Ross, 117th New York,. 
John W. White, James Spring and Henry Blair of the 143d 
New York Volunteers, who were on the skirmish line. The 
statements of these officers and men were taken down and sent 
to General Grant, through Colonel Comstock. General Grant 
forwarded them to the Secretary of War ''with the request that 
these papers be filed with Major-General Butler's report of the 
expedition against Fort Fisher, N. C, as statements appended 
to said report by me. I should have appended them when I 
forwarded the report, but Lieutenant-Colonel Comstock, aide- 
de-camp, to whom they were made, was absent on the second 
expedition against the fort and had them with him. These 
statements of the officers and men named were reduced to 
writing immediately after the return of the unsuccessful expedi- 
tion against Fort Fisher, and were handed to Colonel Comstock 
about the 8d day of January, 1865. General Butler, before 
ordering re-embarkation and return of the expedition he 
assumed to command, might have had within information, and 
it was his duty, before giving such orders, to have known the 
results of the reconnoissance, which could have been most satis- 
factorily learned from those most in advance." 

These quotations from the official records plainly show who it 
was that disregarded the instructions of General Grant and was 
responsible for the failure of the first expedition. 

Some careless readers have asserted that the inquiry ordered 
by the Senate, January 13, 1865: "Resolved, That the com- 



ADDRESS OF GEN. CUKTIS. 71 

mittee on the conduct of the war be directed to inquire into the 
causes of the failure of the late expedition against Wilmington, 
North Carolina, and to report the facts to the Senate," fully 
acquits General Butler of the responsibility charged by General 
Grant . 

A careful reading of the evidence taken by that committee 
will show that the order of the Senate was not complied with. 
The inquiry was made not to ascertain the causes of the failure, 
but as to the propriety of assaulting the fort, as the findings of 
the committee clearly show: ''In conclusion, your committee 
would say, from all the testimony before them, that the determ- 
ination of General Butler not to assault the fort seems to have 
been fully Justified by all the facts and circumstances then 
known or afterwards ascertained." 

The result of the second expedition fully corroborates the 
correctness of the description of the works on Federal Point 
given by myself and members of my command, who were the 
only persons within 800 yards of the main work, and justified 
our opinion that the fort could have been captured on the first 
expedition had the commanding general complied with 
General Grant's orders and intelligently attempted to have 
carried out the plans he announced to Admiral Porter the night 
before the landing. The reason given for refusing to carry out 
those plans were not justified by the circumstances and conditions 
then existing. To the first claim that the troops on shore were 
without provisions or ammunition, it needs only to be stated 
that ample supplies of both for thirty days could have been 
landed in one-half the time given to re-embarking the troops — 
about 3,500 — which were taken off that night. To the claim 
that the troops on shore could not maintain their position 
against the large force of the enemy in their front, he had the 
assurance of Admiral Porter that the fleet could hold the 
position and give them complete protection. The opinion of 



72 ADDRESS OF GEN. CURTIS. 

Admiral Porter was supported by the fact that not one of the 
naval vessels left the station, nor did one of the frail trans- 
ports waiting to carry the troops north leave its anchorage in 
front of the beach until all the stranded troops were taken on 
board Tuesday afternoon. 



Colonel William Lamb commanded the fort two years and a 
half. He found it an unfinished work with four guns, which he 
said " the frigate Minnesota could have destroyed the works and 
driven us out in a few hours." He made it during his occupa- 
tion the largest and best equipped fortification constructed by 
the confederates. 

He says in his article — " The Defense of Fort Fisher " — Bat- 
tles and Leaders of the War, Vol. 4, page 642 : 

*' Fort Fisher commanded the last gateway between the con- 
federate states and the outside world. Its capture, with the re- 
sulting loss of all the Cape Fear River defenses, and of Wil- 
mington, the great importing depot of the south, effectually 
ended all blockade-running. Lee sent me word that Fort 
Fisher must be held or he could not subsist his army." 

Another author relates a specific transaction which he com- 
pleted between the time of the failure of the first and the ar- 
rival of the second expedition to Fort Fisher. Thomas E. Tay- 
lor, an Englishman, who took a prominent part in blockade- 
running, says, page 139 of his book, " Running the Blockade ": 

" That morning I had an appointment with the Commissary 
General, (this was in Richmond, Va., in December, 1864,) who 
divulged to me, under promise of secrecy, that Lee's army 
was in terrible straits, and had in fact rations for only thirty 
days. He asked me if I could help him. I said I would do my 
best, and after some negotiations he undertook to pay me a 
profit of 350 per cent, upon any provisions and meat I could 



ADDEESS OF GEN. CURTIS. 73 

bring in'witliin the next three weeks. * * * Although 
it was a hard trip, it paid well, as we had on board coming out a 
most magnificent cargo, a great deal of sea island cotton, the 
profits upon which and the provisions I had taken in amounted 
to over eighty-five thousand pounds — not bad work for about 
twenty days." 

The day of the capture of Fort Fisher, January 15, 1865, he 
wrote to his chiefs in Liverpool, England : (p. 136, same vol.) 

" Altogether I think the confederate government is going to 
the had, and if they don't take care the confederacy will go too. 
I never saw things look so gloomy, and I think spring will finish 
them unless they make a change for the better. Georgia is 
gone, and they say Sherman is going to seize Branchville; if he 
does Charleston and Wilmington will be done — and if Wilming- 
ton goes Lee has to evacuate Kichmond and retire into Tennes- 
see. He told me the other day that if they did not keep Wil- 
mington he could not save Eichmond. They nearly had Fort 
Fisher — they were within sixty yards of it — and had they pushed 
on as they ought to have done, could have taken it. It was a 
terrible bombardment ; they estimate that about 40,000 shells 
were sent into it. Colonel Lamb behaved like a brick — 
splendidly. I got the last of the Whitworths in, and they are 
now at the fort. They are very hard up for food in the field, 
but the Banshee has this time 600 barrels of pork and 1,500 
boxes of meat — enough to feed Lee's army for a month. 

Second Expedition". 

Early Friday morning, the 13th of January, under cover of 
the naval vessels, the transports stood in shore and began the 
landing of the troops, which was effected at 3 p. m., together 
with the landing of extra rations, ammunition and intrenching 
tools. The landing was made through a heavy surf, in which 



74 ADDRESS OF GEN. CURTIS. 

much of the provisions in haversacks and ammunition in boxes 
were thoroughly soaked. 

A line was established across the peninsula in the early even- 
ing, but soon abandoned for a second line, a mile further south, 
on which breastworks were thrown up during the night and 
completed by 8 a. m., extending from the beach to Cape Fear 
river. The First Brigade was on the right of this line until the 
morning of the 14th, when it was withdrawn, and General 
Terry directed its commander to report to him until otherwise 
ordered. The brigade, under his instructions, then marched to 
Battery Holland, below Craig's Landing — accompanying Gen- 
eral Terry and Colonel Comstock. Going down, a shell from 
the rebel gun-boat Chickamauga exploded near the head of the 
column, seriously wounding Captain J. H. Reeve, commanding 
3d N. Y., and three men of that regiment. 



Before advancing to the first line every officer and man had 
been instructed as to his movements and the order in which 
they would take place, and that the point of attack was be- 
tween the first and second traverse. 

Three short advances were made, during which the confederate 
infantry would come to the parapet, but when the line halted they 
would return to the bomb-proofs ; each time remaining longer 
at the parapet and suffering greater damage from the naval fire. 
When the enemy seemed determined to remain on the parapet, 
the final rush was made. The commander of the line called 
aloud *' forward," advancing as he arose from the ground. 
Each officer and soldier had been instructed to advance as he 
arose trom the ground, by which means the first volley passed 
over their heads, doing but little damage. They were fifteen 
paces to the front before they had assumed the usual altitude of 



ADDEESS OF GEN. CURTIS 



75- 



a running man, which is about one-third less than the standing 
altitude. 

Although the navy fire had made many openings in the stock- 
ade, one hundred axes had been distributed in the brigade, and 
much chopping had to be done to enable tne men to get through 
to ascend the parapet and contend for the ground between the 
first and second traverses. It was done ; and a marker of the 
right regiment — the 117th N. Y., under command of Lieut. Col. 
F. X. Meyer — placed on the second traverse. Its right to re- 
main there was tested in a hand to hand contest, in which the 
Yankees won. The next move was to go down to the terreplain 
and surround the men, serving a Napoleon gun at the gate, 
and a number of infantry posted at the stockade west of the 
gate. Their capture removed the chief obstacle to an approach 
by the road, and some of the second brigade entered the fort 
through the gate. A number came to the parapet and advanced 
with the first brigade, sharply contending at each of the 
traverses. Colonel Moore, 203d Pennsylvania, was killed soon 
after mounting the parapet with the colors of his regiment in Jiis 
hands. Colonel Pennypacker was wounded at the third trav- 
erse and carried to the rear. 



At no time did I see an officer or man evading his duty — 
officers of all ranks and men vied with one another in their ef- 
forts to capture the fort. The men of each brigade, after en- 
tering the fort, fought side by side on the parapet or on the floor 
of the fort. Officers fought with muskets, not for the purpose 
of inspiring the men, but as a practical contribution to the 
force of the assailants. 



Admiral Porter wanted success no less than General Terry,. 



76 



ADDRESS OF GEN. CDRTIS. 



and was ready to take any step in the line of his profession to win 
it. He knew, as all did, that a naval column would divert the 
garrison, and asked the navy to furnish the men to form it. In 
the pursuit of victory aesperate chances are often taken. 
Never did men undertake a more difficult or hazardous task, and 
never did men offer themselves to their country's cause with 
more zeal, courage or unselfish devotion than did the officers and 
men of the navy and marines on the beach at Fort Fisher. 
Their action contributed to the progress of the army — whether 
the gain justified the losses we shall never know. The naval 
column was important as a diversion, but its value was slight in 
comparison with the fire of the six hundred guns trained on the 
fort. The fleet maintained an uninterrupted fire for two days, 
exceeding in effectivensss any bombardment recorded in the 
annals of war. To Admiral Porter's fleet the army was in- 
debted for an uncontested landing, uninterrupted approach 
to within charging distance of the fort, and to its well directed 
fire in advance of the assaulting lines for a success, which, with- 
out the navy's aid, would have been impossible. 



It will not, I trust, be out of place to refer to the enemy and 
their defense of the fort. 

The constant fire of the navy for two days deprived the gar- 
rison of the opportunity to rest or prepare food . While they 
suffered little from the naval fire until the advance of the 
assaulting lines brought them out of their bomb-proofs, they 
then came under the hottest fire men ever encountered. 
Colonel Lamb skillfully managed the defense, aided by the valu- 
able services of General Whiting. They protected their men 
until the decisive moment, and then led them with conspicuous 
gallantry . 



ADDRESS OF GEN. CURTIS. 71 

The left of the parapet was in charge of a junior officer whose 
mistake, that of a moment only, was in failing to mount the 
parapet and contest our advance from the ditch; although in 
doing so he would have faced the terrible fire of the navy. 
The men serving the piece of artillery covering the road, west 
of the parapet, were so intent in serving their gun that they 
were seized in the act of loading it, by men of the 117th N. Y., 
who went down from the parapet after capturing the enemy 
resisting us between the first and second traverses. 



There were probably 5,000 men brought into action . There 
are no records in the War Department giving the number of 
officers and men by brigades, of the second division, or the 
number of men taken into action. It is estimated that the 
first (Curtis') brigade numbered 900 officers and men; the 
second (Pennypacker's) brigade 1,700 officers and men; the 
third (Bell's) brigade 1,100 officers and men; second (Abbott's) 
brigade, first division, 1,300 officers and men. 

The return of casualties in the United States forces engaged 
in the storming of Fort Fisher, N. C, January 15, 1865, is as 
follows : 

(W. E., See, 95, Page 405.) 



Estimated 




Killed 




w, 


ounded. 






No. Eng-ag-ed. 


Officers. 


Men. 


Officers. 


Men. 


Mi 


issiiiff. 


Curtis, 900 


3 




37 


18 


166 




5 


Peunypacker, 1,700 


6 




45 


16 


■^11 




2 


Bell, 1,100 


2 




14 


6 


91 




2 


Abbott, 1,300 






4 


2 


21 




4 


Staff, 








5 









Grand Total, 5,000 10 100 47 489 13 



78 ADDRESS OP GEN. CURTIS. 

The missing include those injured beyond recognition, and 
iihose buried in the sand by the explosion of a magazine after 
the capture. 

Eeferences to the Personnel of the 117th. 

The neighbors of the 117th New York should know that in 
"the distribution of honors for valiant services and unyielding 
endurance under one of the hottest fires men were ever called 
upon to meet that none stood in advance of the members of that 
organization. Lieutenant-Colonel Meyer and Major Bagg 
were wounded early in battle, yet neither faltered while 
able to stand, and each manfully struggled to be foremost in 
the advance. 

Captain D. B. Magill conducted the advance over the eighth 
traverse, and lost a leg in carrying it. Captain A. E. Smith 
(later killed with Custer fighting Indians) on General Terry's 
staff, although wounded, carried orders to the end. I saw 
Lieutenant Skinner and another officer nursing wounds, yet 
pressing forward, generously giving more attention to the enemy 
than themselves. Corporal J. B. Jones, of the color guard, 
carried messages to different parts of the line, intelligently 
performing the duties of a staff officer. 

Exhibitions of extraordinary acts of personal courage were 
shown by officers and men whose names should be mentioned in 
a more detailed account. It is no common thing for men to 
stay in line after being wounded, yet there were cases where 
men carrying the most effective arms in the war — a good musket 
properly handled, unable to stand on their feet by exhaustion 
from wounds, in a sitting position, loaded their pieces for others 
to fire them. Whatever credit be given to officers for the plan 
of attack and directing the movements it must not be forgotten 



ADDRESS OF GEN". CURTIS. 79 

that there were hundreds with muskets as well as swords entitled 
to the highest commendation. 

I had an opportunity to see much of the 4th Oneida from 
the Spring of 1863, at Suffolk, until disabled in this battle. It 
was at all times a fine organization, yet I believe it was brought 
to its highest state of efficiency while under command of Colonel 
Eufus Daggett, seconded by field and company officers of 
marked ability. Their promotions were worthily earned, and 
they justly merit the high commendation bestowed upon 
them. 



82 NINETY -SEVENTH REGT. FLAG PRESENTATION. 

twenty-five voices, led by E. L. Griffiths. It sang with excel- 
lent harmony and great heartiness. Its music was inspiring. 

Eev. J. V. Ferguson, Chaplain of the Ninety-Seventh regi- 
ment, offered prayer. 

The two flags, one an American flag presented to the regiment 
by the ladies of Boonville, and the other the coat of arms of the 
Empire State, very finely embroidered and inscribed '' Conkling 
Rifles," were then presented to the society by John H. Merri- 
man of Whitestown, formerly of Company D, and Arch B. Snow 
of Boonville. 

Mr. Merriman said: This evening is one of unusual pleasure 
to those who fought together under this flag. At the time the 
other regimental flags were presented this flag was out on the 
skirmish line somewhere, but it got home at last. Thank God 
for it. I will not attempt to give yOu a historical record of it; 
but if you can decipher hieroglyphics, you will see where it has 
been punctuated by the blood of 181 veterans who fell under it. 
You will find in its folds a chapter as grand as any you have 
ever read in English history. This flag, placed in the archives 
of this hall, will stand not only as a memento of what has been 
achieved, but it will increase the patriotism of the rising genera- 
tion. The flag is not in the condition it once was. It is hardly 
recognizable. But its folds are eloquent testimony of the 
patriotism of the men who fought under it. They speak of sad 

hearts (Here the speaker's voice became choked with tears, 

and it was some minutes before he could continue.) He then 
said: My heart is too full for me to express all the emotions 
which the sight of that old flag awakens. I will now present 
the flag to the Oneida Historical Society, to be placed where it 
can be seen by the rising generation as an emblem of all we love 
and cherish. May God bless you and ue. (Applause.) 



NINETY- SEVENTH REGT. FLAG PRESENTATION. 83 

Captain Arch B. Snow of Boonville presented the Conkling 
flag. He said: 

Mr. President and members of the Oneida Historical Society: 
From information secured from newspaper report, I had no 
thought that the flags of the 97th New York Volunteers were to 
be formally presented to your honorable society to-day, and the 
first reliable information on the subject I read in this morning's 
paper while on my way hither. I assure you that T most sin- 
cerely and heartily regret that the few concluding words that 
formally consign these historic relics to your custody, had not 
been delegated to an abler and worthier tongue than mine. 
The time upon which this ceremony falls is most auspicious. 
War, battle and victory is the theme of daily conversation. 
The national ensign proudly floating in the beeeze meets the eye 
on every hand, and this is the anniversary of the battle month 
of the war of the rebellion. Thirty-four years ago General 
Sedgwick was killed. Thirty-four years ago to-day the 07th 
regiment, after five days of constant fighting, got the first chance 
to cook coffee, and thirty-four years ago to-morrow Cleneral 
Grant sent the historic dispatch to the war department which 
contained the famous line, now thrilling and momentious in its 
import: '' I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all 
summer." (Applause.) The boys who with rosy cheecks, 
springing step and patriotic enthusiasm, responded to the call of 
country; the counterparts of those who to-day go forth to fight 
the Spaniard; have long since passed the divide which separates 
youth from middle life, and the surviving few are now sturdily 
marching down the sunset slope of life. A few more years and 
their persons, their deeds, even their names will be but a memory. 
It is most fitting, therefore, that the battle flags, the visible 
emblems and evidence of their imperishable deeds, should with 
fitting ceremonies be deposited in places of safe deposit from the 
corroding touch of time, and the destroying clutch of the relic 



84 NINETY-SEVBNTH REGT. FLAG PRESENTATION. 

hunter. That they have not been thus secure while in the 
custody of the State, the absence of the beautiful lancewood staff 
of the Conkling flag is now in evidence. These two flags are 
historic. The Conkling flag, embroidered in part by the hands 
of the wife of Senator Conkling, and presented through Colonel 
Wheelock to the 97th regiment shortly after the battle of 
Fredericksburg, from that time forward floated on every battle- 
field in which the Army of the Potomac was engaged till the 
surrender at Appomatox. The old battle flag, now a tattered 
rag, with broken, splintered, patched and mended staff, was 
presented to the regiment by the patriotic ladies of the 
village of Boonville in December, 18G1. The president of 
the ladies' fair association which raised the money for its 
purchase by CJod's grace and mercy, is spared in health and 
strength to day to grace this ceremony with her presence. The 
eyes of the great majority of those who saw it floating in battle 
smoke when fresh and bright, and new, are now closed forever; 
and the eyes of those who now survive are growing dim with 
age. We are admonished, therefore, that the time approaches 
whan the last of the soldiers of the great rebellion will be gone. 
Oneida county has the unique distinction of having furnished 
five regiments in the war of the rebellion, three of which are 
numbered among the ''three hundred fighting regiments of the 
war," and the county that furnished to the councils of the nation 
a Kernan and a Conkling, to the warriors of the nation a 
McQuade, a Jenkins, a Wheelock and a Butterfield, through the 
generous munificence of its citizens furnishes also a place of 
deposit, magnificent and secure, where our children's children, 
for generations yet to come, may look with patriotic reverence 
upon the visible evidence of the valor and devotion of those who 
have gone before. (Applause.) 

The lady referred to by Captain Snow was Mrs. L. C. Childs, 
of Utica, who was present. 



NINETF-SEVENTH REGT. FLAG PRESENTATION. 85 

lu accepting the flag President Proctor said: 

Men and Women — Comrades: When the battle flags of the 
14th, 26th, 117th and 146th regiments, that of the Second New 
York Heavy Artillery, General McQuade's headquarters flag 
and several others, some of which were captured in battle, were 
placed in charge of this society in December last, it was but 
natural that the survivors of the 97th regiment were disap- 
pointed that they could not be represented, but their flags were 
in the capitol at Albany. It was thought that an application 
to the adjutant general, or if not to him then to the governor 
or the State, would be all sufficient to cause the flags to be 
restored to the survivors of the regiment. They were, however, 
informed that it would be necessary to have an act of the 
Legislature authorizing their restoration, and this was accom- 
plished through the efforts of Assemblyman Williams and 
Senator Coggeshall, to whom the veterans as well as this society 
feel very grateful. 

It was supposed that his excellency the governor would not 
hesitate to sign this bill, but objection was raised that it was a 
dangerous precedent, and that other regiments would want their 
flags. These objections were overcome, however, by the per- 
suasive influence of Colonel Griffith, the governor's private 
secretary. Congressman Sherman, always the friend of the 
veteran, and Colonel Shaw, the department commander of the 
G. A. K. 

It is said that great men sometimes change their minds, but 
that fools never do. Let us be thankful that our governor was 
great enough to change his mind, and that his gracious act has 
restored these precious treasures to their rightful owners. It is 
but fair to tell you that the efforts of the distinguished gentle- 
men just referred to was secured largely by the untiring exertion 
of Colonel Merriman, the president of the 97th Regiment Asso- 
ciation. It was his earnestness that inspired the co-operation of 



86 NINETY-SEVENTH REGT. FLAG PRESENTATION. 

others, and it is pleasant to remember the occasion when with 
moist eyes he exchiimed that it would be the happiest day of his 
life when these flags were returned to those who had the greatest 
claim on them — the men who had fought under their folds. 
Colonel Merriman, your comrades and friends salute you and 
congratulate you. (Applause. > 

The Oneida Historical Society accepts the care of these flags, 
and will place them with those of the other Oneida county regi- 
ments, and they will remain in this building to tell the present 
and future generations of the valor and patriotism of Oneida's 
sons. 

It is but right and proper that at a meeting of this kind some 
allusion should be made to the brave young men who left this 
city to do battle if need be for the nation only last week. 
(Applause.) They turned their backs upon comfortable homes, 
and with their faces toward the enemy stepped out into the 
unknown. It seems now as though they may never be called 
upon to face the horrors of war, and let us hope and pray that 
they will not, but they are entitled to just as much credit as if 
they actually fought for their country, because they have shown 
by their action that they were able and willing to do so. All 
honor to these brave young men — Utica is proud of them, and 
when they return to their homes, and God grant that they may 
all return, they will be accorded a royal welcome. (Applause.) 

The Glee Club sang " The Red, White and Blue " in excellent 
style. 

President Proctor — The Oneida Historical Society feels under 
very great obligations to the gentleman who is to speak to you 
to-night, for the reason that he has come from New York, leav- 
ing regiments unprotected . He is commander of Lafayette post, 
which, as you know, has enlisted two regiments for this war. I 
take pleasure in introducing our own General Butterfield. 



NINETY-SEVENTH REGT. FLAG PKESENTATION. 87 

The veterans rose and greeted General Butterfield with three 
cheers. He said: President Proctor had not made me aware of 
this timely and interesting occasion in which we participate in 
the return of the flags. If he had, I might not have been 
present. For me it is something like a second christening. 
July 4, 1865, by designation of the governor and legislature, I 
was chosen to present to the governor and legislature the flags 
of the returned regiments. General Grant was present, and I 
made the address in front of the capitol at Albany. To come 
here and see some of the same flags returned seemed to me a little 
anomalous. I might have brought along a part of the address 
and read it here. But we had then no idea of the patriotism 
that would put up such a building here. It is very proper and 
right for the flags to be here, as it is a safe place and they will 
be an object lesson to the rising generation. I assure you I was 
as much touched by the sight of the flags as was Comrade 
Merriman. If you could have seen as I did and as did many of 
the comrades here, a row of dead men reaching from here to 
Genesee street bridge; they had only their names written on 
pieces of paper and pinned to the collars of their coats, and were 
then buried in a trench. If you had seen and known as I and 
these comrades did, of the men who gave their lives fearlessly, 
devotedly and gallantly for the old flag, you would feel touched 
as I was and as Comrade Merriman was, at the sight of these 
flags. (Applause.) Had I known what was coming, I should 
have prepared myself in an entirely different manner. 8til], 
had I realized what was going on, I do not believe I should have 
stayed away. 

Gen. Butterfield said that while these were stirring times, he 
realized that it was better for veterans who were reaching the 
line of three score and ten to consider the things that were 
rather than to think of participating in the events of to-day. 
It seems strange and difficult to realize it, especially as it seemed 



oii NINETY- SEVENTH EEGT, FLAG PRESENTATION. 

only a little while ago when the boys would look on a colonel 
who had reached the age of 50 and say: " There is an old duffer 
who ought to be at home." 

Gen. Butterfield then launched out in stories of war and 
interesting reminiscences — anecdotes of the kind that soldiers 
tell about the camp fire. They were all the more interesting 
because he and many of his listeners had part in them. They 
were not in narrative form, but the incidental happenings, full 
of pith and point. Especially interesting were the stories of 
his personal dealings with the great men of the late war, like 
Grant and Lincoln. At the outset he related an anecdote told 
at his dinner table years ago by Gen. Winfield Scott. Then he 
showed how during the late war, Eussia sympathized with 
the United States, and her attitude had much to do with pre- 
venting interference by England and France. He related an 
interview he had with the Confederate Gen. Pickett, in which 
Pickett said that up to the time Gen. Grant was placed in 
command he had no doubt the South would succeed. During 
the six days' fight in the Battle of the Wilderness, Grant 
demonstrated that he had staying qualities, and Pickett at once 
wrote his wife to send his negroes further south and sell them. 
He told an anecdote of Lincoln and Lord Lyons, and another of 
Lincoln and Seward, and the latter's decision in the Mason and 
Slidell case. Lincoln's readiness to meet an emergency was 
shown in a very interesting anecdote in which Gen. Hooker and 
Gen. Butterfield were concerned. Incidentally it showed how 
Gen. Gilmore was made a Major General, giving inside facts not 
generally known. Then followed another very interesting 
anecdote of Lincoln, his boy Thad., Gen. Sickles and the Princess 
Salm-Salm. 

Eeferring to events of the present day Gen. Butterfield said: 
We are all looking to-day to see when the present war will end. 
We know of course that it will end when Sampson's fleet 
encounters and destroys the Spanish fleet. 



NINETT-SEVENTII REGT. FLAti PRESENTATION. 89 

Comparing the magnitude of the present war with that of the 
Civil War, he said: Id this war 125,000 soldiers have bten 
enlisted. The number of Union soldiers enlisted and re-enlisted 
during the civil war was 2,572,(100. Of these 2,000,000 enlisted 
for three years, and 427,000 enlisted for one or two years. 
Putting it in another form there weTe 1.765 regiments of 
infantry, 270 regiments of cavalry, more than 900 batteries of 
artillery, and 671 ships of all kinds manned by 154,000 men. 
It took more men to man the ships then than have now been 
called out. During the civil war 364,116 died from wounds and 
disease, and this number did not include those who perished in 
Andersonville and Libby prisons. Those who sleep in unknown 
graves number over 150,000. The records show 5,825,000 
entered at the hospitals during the war. These figures show 
the enormity of the struggle and its severity, but they give no 
figures on the other side. Is it any wonder that we cherish and 
love the veterans and stand by them ? Their organization has 
no parallel in the history of the world. The money they have 
given to widows, their devotion to each other in illness, and the 
services performed by them is something unparalleled in the 
history of any of the armies of the world. I know Utica will 
give them the reception they deserve. 

The present war will develop the same grand types of men and 
characters. When men read of Grant's address at Gettysburg 
they did not think much of it at the time. Just imagine such 
discipline as was shown by a sailor on board the Maine. He 
said to Capt. vSigsbee after saluting; " Sir, I have the honor to 
report that the ship is blown up and is sinking." (Applause.) 
Nothing in the history of warfare chronicles an incident in the 
line of discharge of duty more grand than this. You can stake 
your all on the United States navy. Utica had two good naval 
officers. Commodore Breeze and Commodore Mervin. Both, I 
believe, are buried in Forest Hill. I hope your society will 
place something on these walls in their memory. 



90 NINETY-SEYENTII REGT. FLAG PRESETSTTAIION. 

The speaker described briefly IJewey's victory iit Manilla and 
said: It made the tears roll down my cheeks when I read it. 
It was something for every American to be proud of. No 
matter what comes you can bet your bottom dollar on the 
American navy every time. (Applause.) We know that the 
climate of Cuba is terrible, and while we are anxious, we are 
equally confident that Sampson will be successful over the 
Spanish fleet if he has not already made that an accomplished 
fact. (Applause.) God bless our navy and our army. We 
know they will succeed. And God bless our President who has 
managed this war thus far with the greatest success. 
(Applause.) 

On motion of David Jones, a vote of thanks was tendoed to 
Gen. Buttertield for his very interesting address. 

The exercises closed with the singing of "America." Then 
all the veterans came forward to shake the hand of the gallant 
soldier and distinguished general. 

At six o'clock yesterday Gen. Butterfield was entertained at 
dinner by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas R. Proctor. The guests were: 
Gen. Daniel Butterfield, William M. Storrs, his brotlier-in-law; 
Col. C. H. Ballon, L. A. Jones, John Kohler, David Jonei-, 
Major James Miller, Gen Rufus Daggett, W. Stuart Walcott, 
J. H. Merriman, Arch B. Snow and Gen. C. W. Darling. 



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